Renewable Nations Institute

A CASE STUDY IN WORK-LEARNING-SERVICE

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Welcome!

The Renewable Nations Institute (RNI) and the Vermont Technical College (VTC) completed the 2021 MEC 4722 Renewable Energy Capstone Project (see above) on 11 May 2021 with a public webinar presentation. Thank you Capstone students for your focused effort this semester. Excellent work! And thank you to all those who supported this challenging project.

Capstone Project Webinar:

The MEC 4722 Renewable Energy Capstone Project webinar is a 50-minute student presentation on the topic of Healthcare Facility Electrification in the Developing World. The principal Capstone Project research activity is based on a case study of the Kigambo Health Center II, an off-grid, solar-powered healthcare facility located in the Republic of Uganda that (for baseline comparison) was previously electrified by the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Powering Health Initiative.

The webinar is moderated by John N. Kidder, Jr., Ph.D., Professor and Renewable Energy Department Chair at VTC, and Instructor of Record for the MEC 4722 Capstone Project. Patricia Moulton, President of VTC, provides opening remarks. Dr. Kidder describes the School of Engineering and Computing at VTC, and the Bachelor of Science in Renewable Energy degree program. He then introduces the Capstone Project students (all graduating seniors), and the Renewable Nations Institute.

Allan Baer, President of the RNI, follows with an overview of the need for healthcare facility electrification in the developing world, and states the key Capstone Project objective:

To demonstrate the efficacy of Work-Learning-Service to provide cost-effective, accurate and timely technical assistance, capacity building and decision support services for multi-sector stakeholders engaged in national-level healthcare facility electrification project planning in the developing world.

Capstone students then present on research methodologies and multiple topics following project development "standards" for healthcare facility electrification under the SEforALL Powering Health Facilities - Approach. These standards include:

Multi-sector stakeholder consultation;
National health facility mapping;
Energy needs assessment;
Energy load analysis;
Energy systems costing; and
Project implementation strategies.

Students end their presentation with a brief statement on the MEC 4277 Capstone Project experience. President Moulton and Robert Allen, former President of Green Mountain College (Poultney, Vermont), provide closing remarks.

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Looking to the Future:

The MEC 4722 Capstone Project demonstrated the capacity of students enrolled in a Renewable Energy degree program to contribute to national healthcare facility electrification planning in the developing world.

However, questions remain:

Are there appropriate roles for university-based Work-Learning-Service programs to provide technical assistance, capacity building and decision support services for national healthcare facility electrification planning?
If there is a critical role for Work-Learning-Service for national healthcare facility electrification planning, can the global higher education sector meet the demand for support services at-scale across the developing world?
Are there existing fee-for-service options, or emerging blended revenue models, for Work-Learning-Service programs to achieve financial sustainability while providing affordable learning opportunities for students?

The Renewable Nations Institute (RNI) is extending invitations to representatives from multi-sector stakeholders---development banks, multilateral donors, government agencies, private industry, civil society organizations, philanthropies and academia---to explore the feasibility of establishing a certificate-based, Work-Learning-Service internship program (with optional college credit) to provide cost-effective, accurate and timely technical assistance, capacity building and decision support services for national-level healthcare facility electrification project planning in the developing world.

Thank you,

Allan Baer, President
The Renewable Nations Institute
+1 (802) 279-2750
allan.baer@renewablenations.institute

Phoebe's Story at the Kigambo Health Center II:

Video courtesy of the United Nations Foundation