Groundwater resources in the coastal zone of EA are at risk. Increased demand, linked to rapid population growth in the coastal margins, has led to unsustainable and ill-planned well drilling and abstraction. Sea water intrusion into formerly freshwater aquifers frequently occurs as recharge from rainfall is insufficient to support the rate at which water is extracted. Wells supplying domestic, industrial and agricultural needs have, in many areas, become too saline for use. Climate change is expected to exacerbate this problem. Rising sea levels in the Indian Ocean region are projected to cause inundation of saltwater along the coastal zone, which is dominated by highly-permeable rock, while altered precipitation patterns and temperature change will affect the amount of water replenishing the aquifer through infiltration and recharge. Local communities across the region are already reporting changing tidal and rainfall patterns. The multiplicity of hydrological and demographic driving factors makes this a very challenging issue for management. At present the state of coastal aquifers in the EA region is not well constrained and past practices which may have exacerbated the problem have not been clearly identified. This project will bring together teams from Kenya, Tanzania and the Comoros Islands to address this knowledge gap; collaborating and working towards achieving water security in their respective areas. An integrative approach, combining the expertise of hydrogeologists, hydrologists and social scientists, will target selected sites along the coastal zone in each country. Hydrogeologic observatories will be developed where focussed research will identify the current condition of the coastal aquifers and identify future threats based on projected demographic and climate change scenarios. Water supply and monitoring needs will be identified through consultations with end-users and local authorities and optimum strategies for addressing these sought. An initial step will be to survey and bring together all existing data on well installations, abstraction, groundwater gradients and the salinity of existing wells at each pilot site. Understanding where wells are located, how deep they are, how much water is abstracted, what the flow directions are and what the salinity is, provides an overview of the state of the aquifer. Local data on hydraulic properties, such as the permeability, porosity, and storativity of the aquifer will be investigated and synthesised. Targeted electrical geophysical surveys, which provide relevant spatial information on both the aquifer structure and the saltwater distribution, will be undertaken. Similarly data is needed on the hydrological drivers in the system; to understand how much of annual rainfall infiltrates to replenish groundwater reserves (compared to the amount abstracted for human use) and how this might be impacted by changes in rainfall intensity or frequency. Land use and land use change is also important; controlling the proportion of incident rainfall which reaches the soil and subsequently groundwater. Recharge modelling will be an important tool for investigating different scenarios for climate and land use change and evaluating groundwater vulnerability. The social and political aspects of water use and development will be incorporated to assess the compatibility between the evolution of the availability of coastal freshwater resources and those of society and water politics. Researchers will engage with local community and stakeholder groups in each area and work together towards understanding the issues most affecting the communities with regards accessibility to water supply. A two-way exchange of knowledge between researchers and community members is essential in working towards feasible solutions to existing problems and ensuring preparedness for the changes in demographics and environment in the future.

The main aim of the project Navigating the digital landscape: universities partnering for change (NIAGARA) is to utilize the partnership between universities in Zambia, Tanzania, Poland and Norway to improve and expand information services by developing libraries’ ICT infrastructure and librarians’ digital competencies.The specific objectives of the project are as follows:1. To strengthen the digital infrastructure in partner university libraries in Tanzania and Zambia that will benefit all students and staff and ensure inclusive and equal access to library and information services2. To examine current digital competencies needed for efficient provision of library and information services3. To develop and implement short-term courses The primary target groups are the HEI-librarians and LIS-students in Zambia and Tanzania. Further target beneficiaries are all students and faculty members (including those with fewer opportunities) working in the noted countries. NIAGARA relates strongly to UN SDG4: Quality education and 10: Reduce inequality.NIAGARA is composed of seven work packages (WPs): WP1: Management, WP2: Digital competency assessment, WP3: Education and Research support, WP4: Inclusion and equity, WP5: Infrastructural capacity, WP6: Blended mobility, and WP7: Dissemination and sustainability. Some important outputs are open courses and interactive learning materials on digital competency and data management. Information and outputs will be accessible through the project website and social media.Knowledge gained from the project will be informative for policy makers and leaders in higher education as well as governing bodies in regions that are looking to increase citizens’ digital competencies and even out digital divides. The results will be transferable to other HEIs, library and information science educators, and academic libraries and will contribute to scholarly discussions and research on issues related to open access and accessibility.

Restoring Ecosystems to Stop the Threat Of (Re-)Emerging Infectious Diseases: There is a growing body of evidence that landscape degradation is linked to zoonotic spillover risk. Large scale restoration is increasingly being touted as an effective solution for mitigating against a range of anthropogenic impacts and is also hypothesised to protect against zoonotic disease spillover. However, little is known about the mechanisms with which restoration may provide this protection. It is commonly assumed that restoration mirrors in reverse the processes that occur during degradation; however, it is likely that this relationship is in fact asymmetric. Rarely can restored landscapes be returned to a state similar to that of pristine ecosystems, and often restored landscapes need to fulfil a range of environmental and socioeconomic requirements that inherently prevent them from doing so. Additionally, the spatiotemporal scale necessary to effect positive change is context dependent, and the type of restoration necessary to protect against zoonotic spillover is currently unknown. Ecosystem restoration can vary widely in type, scale and context and can also change how humans interact with their environment, which may have unexpected consequences for zoonotic disease spillover. Given the complexity of these interactions and their effect on disease, it is vital that we understand how restoration specifically might impact wildlife disease and emergent spillover risk.

Control of soil transmitted helminths (STH) and Schistosomiasis (SCH) has been part of routine programmes for many years, yet, the efficacy and effectiveness of these programmes is challenged by low and failing drug efficacy and growing concerns of anthelmintic resistance, calling for a revision of the MDA-drug strategies. In this regard, the novel fixed-dose co-formulation (FDC) including albendazole and ivermectin has proven to be safe and to overcome most of the challenges in drug efficacy for STH. For T. solium the situation is very different from STH and SCH as currently there are no countries routinely implementing control. 3SI-CONTROL will assess the safety and cost-effectiveness of the FDC co-administration with praziquantel in reducing the prevalence of T. solium, STH and SCH, in a randomised controlled trial embedded in solid implementation research. Results from 3SI-CONTROL will thereby provide a scientific evidence base on the safety and effectiveness of integration of T. solium control with STH and SCH, considering the One Health approach. Beyond this, the substantial implementation research component will enable bridging the gap between the evidence-based practice (results on safety and effectiveness) and the actual implementation in the routine, real-world setting. These results, joined by a comprehensive dissemination and advocacy plan, will provide leverage to stimulate uptake of T. solium in the existing routine NTD control programmes, enabling the implementation of a safe and integrated control strategy with a higher effectiveness, tackling three top ranking NTDs. By harnessing advanced concepts in One Health, implementation research, and pharmacovigilance, our project aims to deliver transformative impacts in NTD control, reducing the individual, social and economic burdens of resource poor rural populations.