Minodu – Fostering local sustainable development through research and technology

How could knowledge on climate change reach communities that are disconnected from the global knowledge community?  

Minodu aims to co-create an accessible and participatory format of scientific communication in the context of sustainable land management in the rural region of Kara in Togo. The word “Minodu” comes from Ewe, a language spoken in southern Togo, and translates as “let’s be together” or “let’s work together”. Along these lines, the methodologies and technologies are to be developed collaboratively. 

Minodu is about learning from local communities and finding ways of making scientific research accessible and usable to them. A significant aspect of the project is the close collaboration with students from the University of Kara ( https://univ-kara.org/). These students possess insights from both the academic world and community life in their villages of origin. Minodu aims to take the rich indigenous knowledge into account and to value and lever it.  

The project is not primarily designed to create technological solutions, but rather an environment where existing relationships are strengthened, and new networks are created through collaborations, workshops and design methods. Eventually, technology is not a means in itself, but a lever to scale community solutions. The project aims to build alternatives to the usual project management schemes in the ‘development’ context by exploring how co-design could be implemented and pursued.  

Minodu builds on the network formed under the predecessor project Miadé and is only conceivable thanks to the numerous partnerships in Togo. 

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the category “Sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa: Improving livelihoods through on-the-ground research” as part of the BMBF’s ‘Research for Sustainability’ (FONA) strategy (FKZ 01LL2202A).