Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Kenya: Project Manager, Enabling Local Energy Communities

Aug 25, 2021 | Hudara
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Hudara gGmbH is an independent and impartial organisation that is committed to people whose lives are affected by poverty, conflict and climate change.

Vision

We strive for a world in which people experience good mental wellbeing, live in peaceful communities and in balance with the natural environment.

Mission

We support communities in reaching a sustainable and peaceful way of functioning through mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), social cohesion (SC) and community-based adaptation and mitigation measures to climate change (AMCC).

About Hudara’s Work

We engage in development work, research and activism; we decentralise debates and actions, strengthen horizontal lines of communication and believe in in-depth collaborations. Our projects focus on issues such as community development, peaceful coexistence, well-being and mental health, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and social and environmental justice.

One project in Mayotte (MAESHA) aims to work with the population to build small decentralised local energy communities to capacitate them to democratise their energy system, participate in the revenues and have sustainable and reliable energy access. A project (ENERGICA) with implementation sites in rural Madagascar, peri-urban Sierra Leone and urban Kenya has a similar goal. A strong scientific component facilitates finding the best solutions for the different contexts to promote the large-scale use of renewable energy. A project in the field of mental health (HOROVOD) is soon to be launched, in which we are planning to establish a network of peer support groups for people with migration background, providing safe environment for self-expression and coping, as well as creating an opportunity for the locals and the newcomers to interact and engage into meaningful exchanges. Another future project is taking place in Germany and uses participatory project-based learning to empower youth becoming agents of change against global warming and promote ownership of student-led, nature-based sustainable pilot activities at universities and schools in order to improve environmental literacy that integrates skills, knowledge and attitudes. We are currently preparing to set up and implement the TAHAWOL project in Iraq, which supports youth in a refugee camp suffering from psychological problems through psychological counselling and narrative theatre practices.

Your tasks and responsibilities

We are looking for a Project Manager to support and ensure the activities in the ENERGICA project in taking place in Sierra Leone, Kenia and Madagascar. The tasks related to the open position are: to ensure a community-based approach and the consideration of persons of concern in new emerging models of sustainable energy supply. Local communities are to be actively involved for ownership of the energy transition. Centralized energy systems are to be reorganized and where no energy supply is available yet, integrated community energy systems (ICESs) are to be developed to allow simultaneous integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) and engagement of local communities. With the emergence of ICESs new roles and responsibilities as well as interactions and dynamics are expected in the community energy supply. This process has to be implemented and monitored regarding its value that these arrangements can provide to the local communities as well as the whole system, considering the associated technological, institutional, socio-economic, psychosocial and environmental factors.

What we are looking for

  • A person with a master degree in socio-political, economic or environmental science.
  • Fluency in written and spoken English is obligatory, another language, especially French or German, is an asset.
  • Willingness to perform travels to Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Kenya to follow up with the project activities.
  • Commitment to work in a community-based way, using critical methodologies and recognising decoloniality and social justice as essential for the establishment of sovereignty of marginalised and oppressed people, especially in the Global South.

What we offer

  • The gross monthly salary for this position (4 days per week / 80% part-time) is 2100 Euro in the first year; with the possibility of an increased salary in the second year; pension, unemployment and health insurances are covered.
  • The duration of this position is one year with the possibility of extension.
  • Starting date is 01st of November 2021.
  • There is the possibility of a doing a PhD through the collaboration between Hudara and the Technische Universität Berlin (in case of interest, not required).
  • You will be part of a young and dynamic team and you will have the possibility to set your own emphasis within the thematic focus of our initiative depending on your personal strengths and interests.
  • The position is based in Berlin, Germany. The work can be arranged flexible with at least three days per week at our shared office space and one home office day.

How to apply

Please send a CV and a motivational letter to lena@hudara.org with “Project Manager_Energica” in the subject line before 15th of September 2021 and tell us about you and why you want to join our team. You may find more information about us and our work at https://hudara.org.