Water Essence-Africa Project at AAU Hosts Regional Workshop on Water-Energy-Food Nexus, and a Field Visit to Riverside Development Site in Addis Ababa.
The Water ESSENCE-Africa Project at Addis Ababa University’s Department of Political Science and International Relations within the College of Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, convened a milestone Training Workshop focused on Competency-Based Education for the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. The presentation for the Training Workshop was delivered by Professor Francis M. Mutua of University of Nairobi.
The workshop was held at the SWISS INN Nexus Hotel in Addis Ababa. The event brought together prominent academic leaders, senior water experts from the Ethiopian government institutions including Ministery of Water and Energy, Ethiopian Electric Power, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from international agencies operating in Ethiopia including Agri-Service, International Water Management Institute, and water sector civil society operators in Addis Ababa. The high-profile gathering was also attended by senior professors from Addis Ababa University, the University of Bergen, Makerere University, the University of Rwanda, and the University of Nairobi.
On 25 Septeber 2026 the Water Essance-Africa Project Coordination of Addis Ababa University organized a half-day field visit of Addis Ababa City River Streams Rehabilitation Project. The site visit was hosted by the City River Development Agency. The Water Essence-Africa Project partners from University of Rwanda, University of Nairobi, Makerere University, and the University of Bergen participated in the field visit which essentially became an ‘on-site seminar’. The insightful excursion and ‘on-site seminar’ helped the participants to have a first-hand observation of the Addis Ababa Riverside Development Project, which has been launched under the rubric of 'Beautifying Sheger' (Addis Ababa) initiative. This major urban surface water transformation endeavor aims to revitalize the urban surface water by restoring and cleaning the polluted river streams starting from Mount Entoto in the northern end to down-stream Lake Akaki in the southern end of Addis Ababa City.
The main workshop on September 26 commenced with welcoming remarks from Dr. Yacob Arsano, Project Coordinator for the Water Essence-Africa Project at Addis Ababa University. Then it was followed by an opening address from Dr. Ezana Amdework, Executive Dean of the College of Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities. Prof. Tore Sætersdal, the PI of Water Essence-Africa Project from the University of Bergen presented the background and scope of the Water ESSENCE-Africa Project, outlining its mission to foster international academic collaboration through joint Master’s and PhD student supervision, faculty exchanges, and institutional capacity building across partner universities in Norway, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, S.Sudan and Ghana.
The Workshop’s main keynote address was delivered by Prof. Francis Mutua from University of Nairobi, titled 'Competency-Based Education for Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Educating Graduates to Think across Systems and Act across Boundaries’. Prof. Mutua emphasized that traditional academic structures organized around isolated disciplines are insufficient for addressing contemporary multi-system challenges. He further stressed that higher education must equip graduates with practical action competencies and with the ability to solve complex real-world problems.
Following the keynote session, participants engaged in interactive breakout sessions designed to translate conceptual framework into institutional strategies. The breakout groups conducted comprehensive stakeholder power and interest analyses, defined essential graduate skill sets required for multi-disciplinary resource management, and outlined practical mechanisms for building bridges across traditional university departmental “silos”. Findings from these working groups were presented during a plenary synthesis session jointly moderated by Dr. Ronald Semyalo of Makerere University and Prof. Kabera Telesphore of University of Rwanda.
The Training Workshop was concluded by a vote of thanks by Dr. Demeke Achiso, Chairman of Department of Political Science & International Relations of Addis Ababa University. Finally, award of certificates was handed over to the Workshop participants jointly by Dr. Yacob Arsano and Dr. Demeke Achiso. Special award was also bestowed to Professor Francis Mutua in recognition of his excellent lead paper for the Training Workshop.
Acknowledgement: This article and photos were prepared by Firehiwot Sintayehu, Ph.D. (Addis Ababa University) and is published as part of the Water ESSENCE-Africa project dissemination activities.