The ICCCER 2024 Organizing Committee paid a courtesy call to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Thomas Cheruiyot on the sidelines of the conference hosted at UoE between October 31st and November 1st 2024.

In his remarks Prof. Cheruiyot said that the conference provided an opportunity for the University faculty and students to interact with various institutions involved in Climate Change in the North Rift region, noting that the theme “Rethinking our Ecosystems” touched squarely on the objectives of the Centre. As UoE has established Centre for Climate Change and Green Economy, he encouraged the participating institutions to partner with the centre in order to solve the challenges associated with Climate Change. He urged the Organising Committee to ensure they achieve tangible resolutions from the conference to strengthen the Climate Change agenda. He reiterated that the University is bestowed with a wealth of knowledge in Climate Change having reknown experts and faculty being a leading University in Environment Science and Natural Resource Management  

The Organizing Committee lead, Dr. Selly Kimosop, the Chairperson of SCOPE Intervention, appreciated the University for coordinating and hosting the conference. She noted that their target was to restore the landscape in the Rift Valley and extend outward to Africa. She mentioned that the Restoration Alliance was formed for impact in the communities through the Green Space Alliance, started in 2022, has continuously improved various community programs on a small scale in Elgeyo Marakwet. As a result they will be upscaling to Kaptagat,  Baringo and Cherangani where they seek to intervene and create tangible impact within the communities. She emphasized that the aim of the conference was to rally the Climate Change agenda starting with the North Rift then the rest of Kenya.

Members of the ICCCER Organizing Committee present included Salvadore Correddu (C.E.O. - Amb. Bitok Foundation), Sylvia Buleti (Crop Protection Agronomist & Food Security Champion, CIFOR-ICRAF), Marcus Steiner and Dickson Njunge (Portfolio Manager - Mali Asili), Kenfrey Kipchumba (SCOPE Intervention), John Kiongo (Laikipia Wildlife Forum), Stephen Bundotich (Community Socio-Environmental Organization) and David Chemweno (Save Kenya Water Towers)

The UoE team included Prof. Philip Raburu (Deputy Vice-Chancellor-PRE), Prof. Lizzie Mwamburi (Director, Research and Innovation), Dr. Frank Masese (Ag. Director, Industrial Links, Partnerships and Collaboration) and Dr. Chris Saina (Coordinator, Centre of Excellence for Climate Change and Green Economy).