African winners among this year’s ‘Green Talents’

For the eighth time the “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development” culminated in a festive award ceremony at which the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research honoured the newest 25 awardees for their innovative green ideas from various fields of research and promoted an international exchange.

For the 3rd year in a row, Africa has had a winner in this international prestigious award. Dr Musaida Manyushi, a PhD graduate from the University of Cape Peninsula University of Technology and a winner in this year’s awards, has focused her research on creating a sustainable power supply for communities in Sub-Saharan Africa and is currently working on the production of bio-coal from charcoal ashes. Her research involves developing a process to find out whether the bio-coal produced by briquetting from charcoal could act as a solid fuel for cooking purposes. The charcoal fine particles could also be used as a bio-absorbent during wastewater treatment, and the charcoal ash from cooking could be applied as a bio fertiliser.

This year’s award ceremony formed part of the largest Green Talents Alumni meeting to date. More than 250 attendants from Germany’s research landscape, former “Green Talents”, politicians and other distinguished members followed the opening speech of Research Minister Professor Johanna Wanka and the panel discussions with participants from science, politics and industry. Participants also exchanged ideas in workshops related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Minister Wanka’s speech emphasised the importance of international collaboration to solve the pressing sustainability questions of our time, claiming: “We need programmes like “Green Talents” to enable exchange between relevant fields of science, experts and young talents from all over the world. One country or one research discipline alone cannot identify a holistic solution for further environmental protection and the sustainability challenges which lie ahead.” A recently published alumni survey proves that the goal to create cooperation between Green Talents and German research institutes has been achieved. 96% of awardees see their career positively influenced by being part of Green Talents. 84% of alumni and participating experts indicated they were still in contact with the Green Talents network. The German research landscape also benefits from being part of the programme: 80% of the researchers who hosted a fully funded research stay which the Green Talents are invited to complete within the year after the award are still in contact with the awardee they coached.