By Detlef Müller-Mahn (Project C03 Green Futures).
From 28 May to 9 June 2025, a group of ten Kenyan master’s students visited the Department of Geography in Bonn as part of a research and exchange programme. The visitors from Nairobi were hosted by Bonn geography students, with whom they had previously collaborated on a research seminar and an empirical study on rural water governance in Kenya, led by Prof. Detlef Müller-Mahn and Dr Eric Kioko (Project C03 Green Futures).
The Nairobi and Bonn teams presented their studies in a final report and lecture to members of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) ‘Future Rural Africa’. Their fieldwork on water user associations in Nanyuki, Kenya, conducted in August last year, was affiliated with the research activities of CRC project C03 in the same area.
After conducting similar exchange programmes with different student groups in previous years, this year’s group marked the third cohort to participate in the student exchange between Bonn and Kenya. Similar to the years past, this year’s exercise provided the students from Bonn and Nairobi with a unique experience of personal encounters and joint learning within the context of a large international research collaboration. Involving students in the research project was an interesting experiment, as the young researchers were able to contribute valuable insights. After visiting Bonn, the Kenyan students travelled to Berlin, where they visited the ‘Futurium – House of the Future’ and discussed ideas and suggestions for a planned exhibition on African futures.
