This year's Energy Safari took place between 18 and 23 May in Dodoma. 30 (15 women and 15 men) youth participants between the age of 18 and 32 participated in the Safari. They had various backgrounds ranging from marketing, management and the creative sector, to environmental and urban planning, and technical background.

Why Dodoma?

Dodoma is currently one of the fastest-growing cities in Tanzania. Over the past 4 years, it has seen the relocation of over 4,000 civil servants as part of the Tanzanian government’s decision to shift its capital to Dodoma. In this light, the city provided an interesting and unique environment for the Safari. The Energy Safari focused on how to capitalize this development in light of the energy transition, as well as the roles and awareness of people (both urban and rural) in this transition.

Five cases

Over the course of the five days, the participants worked on researching and prototyping renewable energy solutions on the basis of five (5) energy cases. These were 1) Alternative cooking energy in Chalinze-Dodoma; 2) Dodoma as a poster Green City; 3) Assessment of value chain in Productive Uses of Energy in Changombe, Dongo villages in Dodoma; 4) Perception and awareness of renewable energy in Dodoma City; and 5) Youth opportunities available in productive uses of energy at Chang’ombe and Dongo villages.

Methodology

The facilitators of the Energy Safari applied Lab methodologies. This included ‘Theory U’, a method that involves spending time with energy-users to understand problems better, as opposed to secondary sources.  Co- initiation, sensing journeys, solution analysis, prototyping, testing, and presentations were also part of the five-day course.

To get a better idea and sense of the content and methodology of the Energy Safari watch the video: Energy Safari 2019 - Dodoma