The Partnership for Research and Education for Monitoring Coastal Environments in Africa (CoastAfrica) project aims to build a long-term, equitable collaboration between Norwegian and African Research and education institutions to strengthen capacity in coastal environmental monitoring. The project addresses two key objectives: (O1) to develop sustainable partnerships through co-created gender-inclusive education and research initiatives, and (O2) to integrate hands-on research into education by applying open-access geospatial and AI/ML tools to monitor coastal environmental challenges such as plastic pollution, erosion, invasive species, and ecosystem changes.
CoastAfrica’s Key tasks include- co-developing intensive field and technical courses, delivering these through rotating summer schools, jointly supervising MSc and PhD students, developing research proposal and thesis writing skills, and creating an open-access platform for training materials and research data. The project targets critical personal and institutional gaps in access to advanced monitoring technologies and practical training in African coastal regions, while enhancing the global role of Norwegian institutions in climate and environment-related education.
The major R&D challenges include applying high-resolution satellite, drone, and AI/ML-driven technologies to detect emerging environmental issues that are difficult to monitor using conventional methods. It also addresses the challenge of building digital and technical capacity in Africa, a region where resources and training opportunities are limited.
CoassAfrica will be highly impactful: through interdisciplinary and international cooperation, it will promote education, strengthen climate resilience efforts, support sustainable coastal management, and reinforce gender equality. CoastAfrica will contribute directly to several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) relevant to education, environment, and partnership.
Primary and secondary objectives of the project
CoastAfrica has two primary objectives: (O1) to build a long-term, equitable collaboration between Norwegian institutions and partner universities in eastern and western Africa through co-developing gender-inclusive field courses, rotating summer schools, joint MSc/PhD supervision, and guest lectures. (O2) Strengthen the link between research and education by integrating training with hands-on application of open-access geospatial and AI/ML tools to monitor key coastal environmental challenges.
CoastAfrica will address the following secondary objectives in a short/medium-term perspective:
– Develop technical courses and deliver at least three summer schools and field courses.
– Establish joint supervision of at least 20 MSc/PhD students.
– Develop an open-access platform for training materials, datasets, and knowledge sharing.
– Increased participation of women in environmental education, including environmental monitoring
