Participate with RECIRCULATE is a virtual engagement programme developed by Envirofly Consulting UK Limited for Lancaster University to support engagement and collaboration with the projects RECIRCULATE (a 7 million pounds UK Government-funded Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) project and ACTUATE (a 700,000 pounds waste-to-energy demonstrator project) that have been impacted due to COVID -19.

Considering the current impact of COVID-19 on previously planned activities for both projects. Envirofly helped developed a virtual engagement plan that  is principally focused on RECIRCULATE as a project even though it dovetails into ACTUATE in many aspects and as such it can be a holistic engagement process.

It is important to also note that the plan was proposed such that its continuation is not dependent on COVID-19 as it can still progress post-COVID especially when we do need to increase the engagement our project partner communities.

The objectives of the online/virtual engagement plan are to:

1. Take engage better on the back of the COVID-19 situation and increase the general online/virtual engagement of our project partner during and post COVID.
2. To continue in the fulfilment of the mandate of knowledge transfer and capacity building for RECIRCULATE/ACTUATE project partners and friends.
3. To jump-start and increase the interaction, partnership development, policy advocacy and sustainability/legacy of the project beyond the scheduled physical workshops and residencies.
4. To promote the ongoing research outputs and key lessons of the projects to current and new partners and community beneficiaries while providing a basis for their inputs and localization.
5. To provide a good platform for the development, assessment and monitoring of new sustainable projects aligned with the themes of RECIRCULATE/ACTUATE.

STAKE-HOLDER ENGAGEMENT CATEGORIES

In order to effectively engagement the partner communities of RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE, the stake-holder engagement community has been broken down into four levels. They are:

1. Phase 1 Partners – These are core research partners in Nigeria and Ghana (Lancaster University, UNIBEN, LU GHANA and CSIR)
2. Phase 2 Partners – These are core collaborating partners in Kenya, Botswana, Malawi and Zambia (ATPS, Copperbelt University, BIUST and NCST)
3. Community Partners – These are every other community partner who have engaged on RECIRCULATE/ACTUATE through the in-country workshops and Lancaster University residencies.
4. New Partners and External Beneficiary Communities – These are new partners we hope to engage on the back of our online/virtual engagement plan.