Vito/Energyville and University of Rwanda form Pioneering Partnership to Elevate Sustainability, Circularity, and Climate Services in Rwanda

VITO/EnergyVille has officially entered into a strategic partnership with the University of Rwanda, endorsed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on 5 December 2023. This collaboration aims to promote sustainability, circularity, and climate services in Rwanda in order to address the challenges flowing from rapid urbanization and the anticipated doubling of the Rwandan population by 2050. 

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding follows a pilot project commissioned by Enabel – the development agency of the Belgian federal government. The project, led by VITO/EnergyVille in collaboration with Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO), has centered around circularity in the construction sector. The project’s high-level closing event in Kigali on 6 December 2023, will mark the culmination of efforts to explore and implement circular practices in Rwanda’s construction value chain.  

The pilot project included an incubation track, in which ten local producers of building materials received coaching on circularity by a team of VITO/EnergyVille experts. This involved commercial scans, circularity scans, and life cycle assessments to provide advice on integrating circular practices into their operations. The insights gained from the pilot project will now be used to develop guidelines for Rwandan policymakers, facilitating the transition to a more sustainable and circular manner of doing business.

More Information

For more information on this agreement, check out the UR press release about the partnership or the VITO page.