The projects planned for China, India, and countries in Southeast Asia and Southern Africa aim to solve practical problems by combining the research skills of Imperial College academic staff with the experience of researchers and development experts from the worldwide LEAD network.
LEAD and Imperial are now seeking funding costs for each of the proposals of between UKP200,000 and UKP1 million for three-year periods.
The proposals have been shaped in response to a call from the Johannesburg World Summit to step up global partnerships for sustainable development.
Six weeks after the Summit, a group of LEAD Fellows from around the world teamed up with colleagues from Imperial College to apply their combined expertise to address practical issues in sustainable development. After a two-day workshop in October in London, the group came up with a set of seven project proposals.
They focus on the Millennium Development Goals, and the areas of water and sanitation, energy, health, sustainable agriculture and biodiversity -- the key 'WEHAB' themes outlined by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as priorities for the Johannesburg Summit.
"These new research-and-action projects have a real chance of meeting some key needs in the developing world," said Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial College London.
"These proposals have been developed by specialists from Imperial and LEAD in a new partnership producing a new type of research that links scientists closely with the societies they live and work in to better address the needs of sustainable development."
"Having a five-star university applying their research excellence to on-the-ground development work represents a unique opportunity to improve the lives of poor people across the world," said Julia Marton-Lefevre, Executive Director of LEAD International.
Fundraising teams from LEAD and Imperial have already begun work on the proposals and two projects are close to securing complete funding.
The seven new projects are:
1. Sense and Sanitation
A billion people worldwide lack clean drinking water, and two billion have no access to sanitation. Shanty towns in developing countries often lack both. Sense and Sanitation is the title of a project that will research and design an integrated water and sanitation pilot system for Freedom Park, a shanty town in Cape Town. Modular units, each serving 2,000 people, will supply drinking water, communal washing facilities and sanitation, all installed and maintained by the local community.
2. Irrigating the Future
Many farmers in developing countries use urban wastewater to irrigate food crops. This is mostly water from homes and industry that is piped straight into rivers or into the ground without being cleaned, and is a major environmental and health hazard. Irrigating the Future is a project that will develop and distribute simple filtering technology to farmers in China and India. The project also includes new research on wastewater's effect on crops.
3. Risky Water
For the Hun River area in China, a new computer-modeling tool is being proposed, which will help policymakers forecast how toxins and other pollutants respond to different water management schemes.
4. Illuminating Islands
Two billion people in the world today live without modern energy services. Isolated groups in remote regions are often denied electricity, and therefore kept in poverty, simply because it's thought too costly to connect them to the grid. The Illuminating Islands project aims to meet the electricity needs of precisely this group. The project will conduct research into the best supply options and then help communities with help business plans, funding, and choosing a sustainable energy source and technology. Communities likely to benefit live on India's Lakshadweep Islands and Nagaland, as well as Xinjiang Province in China.
5. Bright Sparks
The second electricity project aims to address a different audience: communities in fast-growing economies who are often supplied with electricity from newly-privatised utilities. The challenge here is to establish modern and transparent regulatory systems. The Bright Sparks project team will investigate electricity pricing in India and Africa and help to draw up a regulatory framework that protects consumers and is the basis for sound environmental practice.
6. Serving Mother and Child
Serving Mother and Child will take a hard look at healthcare for mothers and children. Mortality is still high for these groups: malnutrition claims the lives of six million children year, for example. The team plans to research reviews, monitor health services and run surveys to help healthcare teams make informed decisions based on good practice and the needs of local mothers and children.
7. Good Earth
Agriculture and biodiversity are often portrayed as issues in conflict. Biodiversity often seems threatened by the needs of agriculture. The Good Earth project team will develop case studies from the LEAD network to work out a framework aimed at balancing the three goals of: agricultural productivity, social equity and green imperatives.