The journey

The journey starts on the 6th of May, exactly on my 30th birthday, to Burkina Faso. All the necessary arrangements are done - as far as forseeable. I am looking forward to arrive at 45° C in Quagadougou.

First fieldresearch trip

I am conducting the first field investigation in Burkina Faso - the duration of the stay will be from the 06th of May, 2009 until the 15th of June, 2009.

The project

The Austrian inter/trans-disciplinary project group aims to realize a biogas plant project in Burkina Faso, “Biogas 4 Burkina”, based on a contract of cooperation between the University of Innsbruck and the Université Polytechnique de Bobo Dioulasso. This project is the first activity and is in accordance with the main principals of the mutual consent – aiming cooperation in research, education and rural development.

The aim of the project “Biogas4Burkina” is the facilitation of biogas usage in Burkina Faso by installing two biogas plants – one in the village of Sidi and a second one in the rural or semi-rural or urban area of southwest Burkina Faso.

In order to guarantee the success of the project, the international research team seeks to prepare the ground for the planning, installation, and the operation of the biogas plants in terms of social-, economical-, engineering-, and environmental sustainability.

This project is breaking new ground since so far no scientific team has undergone the challenge to investigate and regulate sustainability issues for biogas plants in Burkina Faso.

The international research - team is composed of Dr. Prof. Chantal Kaboré-Zoungrana (Directrice de l’Institut des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Directrice du Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Ressources Naturelles et les Sciences de l’Environnement, project coordination in Burkina Faso), Dr. Aboubacar Toguyeni (Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Ressources Naturelles et les Sciences de l’Environnement, Burkina Faso), Jean de Dieu Yanra (PhD student in Burkina Faso, deals with fodder trees), Dr. Silvia Prock (Vizerektorat für Forschung Austria, project coordination in Austria) A. Univ. Prof. Dr. Heribert Insam (Institute for Microbiology Austria, technical implementation), A.o. Univ. Prof. Dr. Markus Schermer (Institute of Sociology Austria, social embedding), Mag. Andreas Aschaber (PhD student at the Institute of Sociology Austria, field research, sustainability assessment and project monitoring)