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A vibrant Legacy Event was held at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village (KCEV) to celebrate the Transforming Education for Sustainable Futures (TESF) Network Plus, Rwanda Hub’s completion of its term of operations. Participants included the research team responsible for the 14 projects, as well as the beneficiaries of the projects. The event gave attendees a chance to share their knowledge and lessons learned from the experiences, insights, challenges, and reflections of diverse project teams. Additionally, it sought to develop methods for raising the profile and impact of the work being done by the Rwanda Hub programs. It provided an opportunity to combine the knowledge and understanding gained from co-created research conducted by members of the TESF Rwanda Hub.

A research network called TESF has been given funding by the UK Global Challenges Research Fund (UK-GCRF). TESF also operates in South Africa, Somalia, and India in addition to Rwanda. It aims to "generate new knowledge that can support education policy makers, institutions, non-governmental and community-based organizations, and businesses in countries of research focus to implement education policies and practices that can contribute to equitable and environmentally sustainable development in the following areas : (i) Skills and agency of young people and adults for sustainable livelihoods ; (ii) Sustainable cities and communities ; and (iii) Climate action.

The initiative specifically attempts to accomplish the following three goals :
• Compile and disseminate new and current knowledge regarding issues and strategies related to sustainable development, as well as how these factors influence the demand for radical reforms in the educational system.
• Develop a network of researchers in universities, NGOs, government agencies, social movements, and community-based organizations with the ability to carry out innovative, engaged, transdisciplinary, and impactful research, facilitated by the work of four national hubs.
• Co-produce the evidence and arguments urgently needed to transform education and training systems so that they meaningfully contribute to socially and environmentally just development.
Various testimonies regarding the TESF accomplishments were delivered at the Legacy ceremony. The National Union for Disability Organizations (NUDOR) team of deafblind people’s project, according to Dr. Beth Mukarwego Onesphor, was to evaluate the living conditions of deafblind children in the Gicumbi, Rusizi, and Bugesera districts.

Dr.Beth Nasiforo during her presentation

Many of these kids are deafblind, so they received tactile sign language training, were reintegrated into their families, and were given small animals like goats and rabbits along with training on how to care for them and provide them with food and water so they feel involved, according to Mukarwego.

A researcher named Justine Mirembe led a group of other researchers in the TESF network with the goal of empowering women to address sexual gender-based violence (SGBV), which often involves spouses.

"We trained 20 families of 40 people, wives and husbands, in our action research/baseline, we identified their needs—the majority of women used to experience physical assaults and SGBV. They were unable to have family discussions, and their children had dropped out. We trained them, and we are now celebrating successes,” she said.

By providing money for the 14 funded research initiatives, TEST hopes to have fulfilled one of its goals of increasing the capacity for current and future research in its focus areas (climate action, decent work, and sustainable cities).

Story by

NTIRANDEKURA Schadrac
PRO, UR-CE