From Waste to Wisdom (WaWi) Accelerating Circular Biowaste Solutions through North–South Partnerships
End: dec 2029
Start: dec 2025
WaWi project accelerates circular biowaste solutions through a dynamic North-South and South-South partnership involving leading institutions from Norway, Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa, Sweden, and the USA.
Project participants
Habtamu Alem Lu Feng Lucy Robertson Nazli Pelin Kocatürk Schumacher Melesse Eshetu Moges| Status | Active |
| Start - end date | 31.12.2025 - 30.12.2029 |
| Project manager | Divina Gracia P. Rodriguez |
Building on the research, partnerships, and capacity developed through the ongoing FoodsecURe project, WaWi fosters interdisciplinary collaboration to valorize diverse biowaste streams (urine, manure, crop residues, and agro-industrial byproducts) into safe, sustainable food and fertilizer solutions.
Coordinated by NIBIO and NMBU in Norway, with active leadership from Bahir Dar University (Ethiopia), ARARI (Ethiopia), NUST (Namibia), DUT (South Africa), SLU (Sweden), OSU (USA), and Norges Vel, the project mobilizes global expertise in sanitation engineering, socio-economic evaluation, circular economy, and entrepreneurship.
WaWi strengthens research capacity through two-way international mobility for PhD students, postdocs, and early-career researchers, interdisciplinary workshops, and scientific writing schools. It supports SME development via business modeling training, stakeholder engagement, and the creation of scalable circular biowaste solutions.
WaWi embeds systems thinking into research and education, linking technology, health and safety, social acceptance, and policy to overcome systemic barriers to sustainable nutrient recycling.
By expanding FoodsecURe's urine treatment work to broader biowaste streams and strengthening South-South collaboration among African partners, WaWi addresses critical challenges in food security, sanitation, and environmental degradation.
WaWi directly supports SDGs 2, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 17, aligning with Norway's international education strategy and Africa's Agenda 2063.
Through structured work packages focusing on mobility, capacity building, entrepreneurship, and systems thinking, WaWi delivers immediate impacts on research capacity and biowaste innovation while laying foundations for long-term systemic transformation toward a sustainable circular bioeconomy.