Partnerships and Networks of WISIONS

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Throughout the duration of the project, WISIONS has formed partnerships and supported several energy practitioner networks.

Partnerships with Research Focus

Misak People, Colombia

Misak migration and homeland interrelations

In Colombia, many Indigenous communities have been displaced or have settled far from their ancestral territories. In the department of Cauca, the Misak community has experienced significant youth migration driven by the pursuit of education and income-generating opportunities outside their traditional lands. Yet, many of those who have migrated maintain strong familial and cultural connections with their communities.

This partnership project run from 2025 - 2026. It aimed to deepen understanding of the dynamic relationships between migrants and their territories of origin, with a particular focus on how their knowledge and practices influence the future of mountain landscapes and community life in the original territories. To achieve this, the project employed an action-oriented research approach, using qualitative and collaborative methods aimed at fostering reflection and driving tangible, community-based actions.

Our Partners

The Mountain-Diaspora Colombia project was organised in close cooperation with the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá, particularly the Excellency Center on Sustainable Agri-food Systems (CE_SAS). Among its various initiatives, CE_SAS has led an action-oriented research project focused on transforming food systems to enhance livelihoods and promote environmental sustainability in two Indigenous territories. Through this work, it has already established connections with the Misak community in Cauca.

Objectives

The project aimed to achieve the following objectives:

• Characterize Diasporic Situations by analyzing the relationship between community actors settled in the ancestral territory and those settled outside it.

• Identify the Impact that diasporic conditions have had on the configuration of the ancestral territory, particularly on the agri-food systems and on the energy practices.

• Co-create Strategies to promote diasporic situations that contribute to dignified and sustainable ways of life in ancestral territories.

Results

Ilaje People, Nigeria

Ilaje migration and homeland interrelations

The Aiyetoro community in Lagos, Nigeria, has been home to a diasporic Ilaje population for over 50 years. The Ilaje, originally from fishing communities in Ondo – approximately 250 kilometers north of Nigeria’s capital – have maintained a strong cultural identity and deep-rooted ties to their homeland. Faced with marginalization by both host communities and government authorities in Lagos, the Ilaje diaspora has developed bottom-up governance strategies. These include initiatives such as participatory land mapping and allocation systems that safeguard women’s land rights.

This partnership project run from 2025 - 2026. It aimed to deepen understanding of the dynamic relationships between the Ilaje diaspora in Aiyetoro and their communities of origin. It specifically explored how these connections might be reconfigured to strengthen sustainable ‘ways of living’ in both their rural homelands and urban contexts.

To achieve this, the project adopted an action-oriented research approach, employing qualitative and collaborative methods designed to foster critical reflection and promote tangible, community-driven outcomes.

Our Partners

The Rural-Diaspora Nigeria project is organised in close cooperation with the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in particular with the Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law.

One of its main objectives is to develop the human capacity needed to formulate and implement energy policies and regulations for the effective management of natural resources in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and to provide a platform for energy professionals, institutions and the general public to meet.

Objectives

The project aimed to achieve the following objectives:

• Map Urban-Rural Relations to explore and document the various forms of connection the Ilaje diaspora in Aiyetoro maintain with their places of origin – facilitating mutual understanding between communities across urban and rural contexts.
• Trace Influence on the home territory to examine how interactions with the diaspora shape and impact the social, economic, and environmental realities of the Ilaje homeland.
• Strengthen Ways of Living to identify and co-develop opportunities for reshaping diaspora – homeland relations in ways that enhance the potential for sustainable, fulfilling, and prosperous lives in both rural and urban settings.

Results

Community Forests, Nepal

Changing dynamics of relations between people and community forests

For decades, Nepal’s Community Forest Users’ Groups (CFUGs) have been the backbone of local environmental stewardship, fostering a deep sense of ownership and connecting forest resources to cultural identity and future aspirations. However, these vital community ties are currently under threat. Rapid demographic shifts, particularly the outmigration of young men, have disrupted traditional management systems and placed a heavier burden on women and marginalized groups. These changes risk eroding generations of traditional ecological knowledge and weakening the sustainable practices that have long protected Nepal’s landscapes.

The Baglung District, specifically the rural municipalities of Badigad and Nisikhola in Nepal’s Gandaki Province, serves as a critical focal point for studying these dynamics. While the region is rich in resources and history, there are early signs that the CFUGs are experiencing strained managerial capacity and potential changes in relations with their community forests. Leveraging our established partnerships with groups in the region, our research will explore these changes.

The research is designed as a real-world laboratory to capture the described trends in collaboration with local partners and local communities. It explores the research questions:

• How do individuals and communities in Nepal relate to their community forests?
• How have these relationships evolved over the past 10–20 years?
• How is this relationship expected to develop in the future?
• What can be extrapolated from the research results on changes in human-forest relationships on a global scale?

The project seeks to encourage participatory reflection among CFUGs and therefore encompasses multiple dimensions of the human–forest relationship, including personal, cultural, and livelihood dimensions, as well as economic, management, and governmental aspects.

Our Partners

This collaborative project bridges RECOFTC’s extensive history in Nepali forest governance with the WISIONS team’s expertise in transdisciplinary research, and the participation of Bishnu Prasad Devkota, from the Institute of Forestry in the University of Tribhuvan. By combining these strengths, we aim to gain deep insights into the ecological health and economic value of community forests across our target regions.

A central part of this research involves working with CFUGs to understand their role in navigating modern environmental challenges and their relation to their community forests. In Nepal, CFUGs have played a vital role in forest management for several decades. These organisations foster a sense of ownership and responsibility among community members. Through this partnership, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between CFUGs and forests, and to ensure a resilient future for Nepal’s forests.

Objectives

The project aims to achieve the following objectives:

• Encourage the local populations to reflect on the current relationship to their community forests and reflect on potential changes in this relationship in recent years.
• Reimagine the role and values of community forests for the future.
• Enable global learning for changes in human-nature relationships.

Results

Partnerships with Capacity Building Focus

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ACCESS Coalition

In collaboration with the Alliance of Civil Society Organizations for Clean Energy Access (ACCESS), based in Nairobi, Kenya, we have organised two webinar series to build capacity and enable knowledge sharing among energy practitioners.

Access Coalition Webinar Series

While the first webinar in 2019 focused on the productive uses of energy (PUE) and the role of Civil Society Organizations in promoting PUE, the second webinar discussed the Impact of COVID-19 on Energy Access Organizations.

Further information and the recordings can be accessed here.

Webinar Series: Maximising the Impacts of Energy Access on People’s Development Opportunities

Running from 2022 to 2023, the series focused on maximizing the impacts of energy access on people’s development opportunities. It comprised five editions, each featuring multiple experts and practitioners discussing different aspects of enhancing energy access.

The inextricable link between energy and virtually all the SDGs is increasingly recognised. While there is an active debate about how to accelerate the achievement of the universal energy access goal, less focus has been given to the question of how to maximise the development effects of energy access.

• The first seminar set the scene for the series by exploring aspects crucial to maximising contributions to multiple SDGs. Our guests were Dr Long Seng To, Joint Director of STEER at Loughborough University; Angelica Shamerina, Advisor at the GEF Small Grants Programme, UNDP; and Grace Ronoh, Programme Officer at the ACCESS Coalition.
• The second seminar focused on highlighting the importance of understanding and integrating the contextual and cultural aspects of people’s lives and capacities into the conception and realisation of energy projects. Our panellists were Ayu Abdullah, Co-Executive Director of Energy Action Partners (ENACT), and Emmanuel Cyoy Ngeywo, a consultant on energy delivery models (EDMs).
• The third seminar demonstrated that, in order for energy to effectively improve livelihoods, people must have the opportunity to use it productively. Luciana Proietti (Co-founder and President of Foundation 500RPM), Victor Gathogo (Energy Advisor at SNV) and Temitope Udo-Affia (Technical Assistance Coordinator and Market Development at GET.transform) were invited to share their experiences and discuss how energy access projects can create opportunities for productive use.
• The fourth edition began with an acknowledgement of people’s specific aspirations and opportunities within their local context, asking how local rootedness can be applied to energy planning and policy processes on a much larger scale, such as at provincial or national level. Two case studies of inclusive and integrated energy planning processes were presented by the two panellists, Gabriel Sundoro Wynn (Energy Access Lead at Green Empowerment) and Elizabeth Wanja (Coordinator of the Kenya Climate Change Working Group).
• The fifth and final seminar considered how energy access interventions can effectively integrate gender responsiveness to empower women. Our expert speakers were Silvia Sartori (Gender & Energy Consultant), Thabit Mikidadi (Programme Manager at TANGSEN, Tanzania) and Ashma Pakhrin (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Expert at ADB TA 9334 in Nepal) will share practical experiences from their work in Tanzania and Nepal.

More information about the webinars and the recordings can be accessed here.

Energy Practitioners Nigeria

In collaboration with the Clean Technology Hub (Nigeria) and the German Reiner Lemoine Institute, we implemented a capacity-building programme in Lagos. Between 2023 and 2024, this included an extensive online training module as well as on-site workshops, facilitating a holistic approach to decentralized renewable energy systems.

Find more information about the project and its results, visit the Nigeria Off-Grid Solar Knowledge Hub on energypedia.

IICA & RedBioLAC

Together with RedBioLAC, Asobiogas, and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), we developed an online learning platform – hosted by IICA – as well as conducted field visits to various facilities across South America. Spanning from 2023 to 2024, the program aimed to strengthen the capacities of decision-makers in the region and generate political support to scale up the implementation of biodigester technologies.

Energy Practitioner Networks

WISIONS fostered regional partnerships and practitioner networks to facilitate knowledge development and sharing between practitioners and stakeholders and to induce the broader dissemination of decentralised renewable energy solutions. Four international networks have been consolidated and they each focus on a specific technical solution for a region. These networks actively involve more than 120 organisations and individuals who have long been committed to people-centred sustainable energy solutions.

Energy Practitioners – The People Behind Every Successful Energy Project

The key actors on the frontline of the ongoing efforts to provide energy services to unelectrified and under-served areas in developing and emerging countries are considered to be “practitioners”. These practitioners work for non-governmental organisations, as energy entrepreneurs, in energy agencies, for small and medium-sized enterprises or as independent experts. Together with associated organisations, they are based and operate in the target areas and offer a direct link to communities and end-users of the energy services.

Consequently, they are often more than simply providers of technology; ideally they should be good organisers, financial managers, problem solvers, trainers and mediators as well as good technical installers.

Their work in the field and within communities provides the practitioners with in-depth knowledge, daily lessons and hands-on training – and is riddled with challenges. At the same time, these practitioners have only limited opportunities to share their experiences with other practitioners or stakeholders such as policymakers or decision-makers.

We consider Energy Practitioner Networks to be an important means for facilitating effective knowledge exchange and mutual learning, giving practitioners a voice. As such, these networks play an important role in the transformation towards (decentralised) sustainable energy systems in off-grid regions.

Networks – Key Elements

Social networks – relationships between a set of actors such as individuals or organisations – are widespread and recognised for facilitating successful international cooperation and exchanging research knowledge.

Energy practitioner networks in the global south, which in this publication are defined as social networks that involve and interlink practitioners active in the field of decentralised energy solutions, are still scarce.

Network is a generic term and in different social networks the type of members, topics, organisational structure and means of communication differ enormously; however basic preconditions apply to every social (knowledge) network. These include the purpose of the network, its structure and its processes.

Purpose

• Shared target and vision – a basic understanding among the members that only by working jointly can the mutual targets be achieved and the mutual problems solved.
• Group composition/landscape of members – the network’s members must be sufficiently heterogenic to allow for mutual learning, but not too different to hinder exchange.

Structure

• Member’s mutuality – all members recognise that every member is an expert who can contribute, but who can also gain from the cooperation within a sound ratio of give and take. This spirit is facilitated through mutual trust and a flat network hierarchy.
• Network structure and formalising relationships – a basic structure is crucial and should include a clear organisational plan, clear decision-making processes and clearly allocated responsibilities. Ideally the network structure should be planned when the network is initially created.
• Promoter – it is helpful to have an internal (or external) promoter or to develop a culture of cooperation and support the development of competencies, external relationships and advocacy.

Processes

• Communication – the relationships between the actors need to be maintained by means of (targeted) communication.
• Active exchange & common activities – a core element is the actual interaction between the members, which must take place regularly in order for the network to be effective and become sustainable.
• Monitoring impact – last but not least, measuring the impact and value of the network, as well as the functionality and efficiency of its work, are elements that need to be considered.

Specifically, knowledge networks provide an opportunity to foster the dissemination of decentralised sustainable energy solutions beyond the timeframe and scope of individual projects by emphasising joint value creation, by strengthening the capacity of all members and by providing more options to transform knowledge into policy and practice as well as to influence decision-making processes.

WISIONS Supported Practitioner Networks

Regional practitioner networks were an important element of the WISIONS initiative. A central finding from project support provided by WISIONS is that local capacity-building is crucial for ensuring the success and sustainability of clean energy projects.

Therefore, the WISIONS approach relied on fostering and maintaining cooperation with and between capable and committed individuals and organisations by promoting the foundation of energy practitioner networks and supporting existing networks.

The aim was to facilitate knowledge sharing between local practitioners and other relevant stakeholders in order to develop local expertise in specific focus technologies, contributing ultimately to the broader dissemination of decentralised renewable energy technologies.

The following four networks were supported:

• RedBioLAC: the Latin American biogas network
• RedBioCol : the Colombian network for energy from biomass
• HydroEmpowerment Network (HPNET): for micro-hydropower in South and South East Asia
• Wind Empowerment: the global network for small wind turbines

The four networks involve more than 120 organisations and individual members committed to people-centred sustainable energy solutions. The direct support provided by WISIONS offered basic co-funding for management and coordination, as well as facilitating face-to-face gatherings and other network events. WISIONS also provided financial support to a number of workshops, selected projects and other exchange activities via open calls for its supporting scheme SEPS – Sustainable Energy Project Support. To promote mutual learning between the networks, a format for regular exchanges between the network coordinators had been initiated.

The WISIONS team offered advice to the network coordinating bodies and steering groups on challenges faced and strategies for further development. However, all the networks were fully self-reliant in their decision-making processes and aimed to become sustainable in the long-term by consolidating their funding and support from advisory bodies.

Structure and Key Activities

The four networks all have their individual characters but share a similar centralised structure, with a strong core and close connections to their members. The structure comprises an Executive Board (also called a steering group or Board of Directors), a coordinator, thematic working groups with leaders and the individual members and member organisations (see Figure 1).

Most important for day-to-day operations is the network management, a function carried out by the coordinator. The coordinator is responsible for internal and external communications, documentation and organisational tasks as well as – at least partly – for advocacy and fundraising. The coordinator is supported and supervised by a board or steering group, which meets regularly, develops the network strategy and makes key decisions. A handful of member experts are involved in thematic working groups to discuss problems, develop concepts or formulate studies, activities or further capacity-building.