Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort 2023-2024: closing and dissemination event

23rd July 2025

Online

Introduction to the programme

The Association of Commonwealth Universities-led Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort is designed to support a pipeline of early career researchers, from Commonwealth countries, with the necessary capacities to contribute to climate action research. An applied learning journey supports participating researchers to co-create research projects, across disciplinary boundaries and country contexts and with policy and/or practice stakeholders.

Throughout 2023-24, 18 Fellows drawn from 10 countries and 16 research institutions participated in the programme, focusing on five key themes:

Adapting to flooding and coastal change
Climate law at national level
Digital governance and marginalised communities
Urban adaption and resilience
Water security in a change world

10 Fellows received a research grant to deliver four collaborative research projects. See here.

Overview of the event

The British Council-funded Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort 2023-24 will host a closing and dissemination event on Wednesday 23rd July 2025. The event will be hosted at the University of Lagos, in partnership with the University of Warwick and the ACU and funded by the British Council. Participants can online via Zoom.

Purpose

The purpose of the event is four-fold:

To raise the profile of the programme activities, results and lessons
To disseminate the findings of the programme-funded research projects
To share varied experiences of participating in the programme to share knowledge among the sectors
To enable networking and further collaboration among the cohort and wider stakeholders for sustainability of programme outcomes

At this event, joining participants can expect two learning outcomes:

New knowledge within the context of climate adaptation in Nigeria, India, and South Africa
Understanding the results and lessons of an innovative early career researcher development programme for climate adaptation

Event programme

Time (WAT)	Description	Speaker
09:30	Welcome remarks from the University of Lagos	UNILAG VC UNILAG DVC A & R; Director, RMO Director, IRPP Dean, Faculty of Science HOD, Zoology Dep; Director, TCEBCEM Director, SPESSCE
09:50	Opening remarks from British Council and ACU	Donna McGowan, Country Director, British Council Nigeria and West Africa Cluster Lead Professor Colin Riordan, Secretary General and CEO, ACU Professor Daniel Branch, Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor (Africa), University of Warwick
10:10	Lessons from an innovative climate fellowship programme: *Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort*	George Lakey, Senior Programme Manager, ACU Dr Temitope Sogbanmu, Senior Lecturer, University of Lagos Dr Feng Mao, Associate Professor of Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick
10:40	ACU Fellows themes outputs presentation Identification of water security solutions and climate change adaptation through citizen science and co-creation in low and middle-income countries: case studies from Nigeria, India and South Africa Strengthening community-led innovations for climate resilience through formal planning systems	Dr Temitope Sogbanmu, Senior Lecturer, University of Lagos, Nigeria Dr S. Parimala Renganayaki, Professor, Vellore Institute of Technology, India Dr Kingsley Stephen Orievulu, Research Associate, Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Dr Haruna Jimoh, Lecturer, University of Lagos, Nigeria Dr Chinwe Ogunji, Fellow, Alex-Ekwueme Federal University, Nigeria Dr Aidatu Abubakari Lecturer, Lakeside University College, Ghana
11:20	Tea break and group photographs
11:40	ACU Fellows themes outputs presentation: Aligning informal community-led innovation with formal planning for urban climate resilience in the informal settlements of Mumbai Climate change litigation in India	Dr Praveen Kumar, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India Dr Aslam Saja, Senior Lecturer, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Dr Mohammad Rashed Alam Bhuiyan, Assistant Professor, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh Saumya Kumar, PhD Candidate, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
13:00	Panel discussion: ACU Fellows and theme leads sharing of experiences and skills built in the Climate Cohort Programme	Chaired by Daniel Otieno Panellists: Chinwe Ogunji, Aidatu Abubakar, Saja Aslam, Feng Mao
13:50	Closing remarks	Director RMO George Lakey