Feature Articles
Creating healthy school kitchens in Africa: a new documentary film
This new documentary film produced by the CLEAN-Air (Africa) research team at the University of Liverpool tells the story of this major health and environmental challenge through the accounts of cooks, students, the head teachers of two schools, and those leading an exciting new initiative aiming to convert school kitchens from use to wood fuel to clean fuels such as LPG right across East Africa.
New ‘State-of-the-Art’ air pollution laboratory opens at KEMRI, Nairobi
Air pollution is a critical issue for health, climate and development globally, and especially so for Africa. To date, facilities for accurate measurement of air pollution in Africa have been limited. This is now set to change with the opening of a new ‘State-of-the-Art’ air pollution laboratory at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), in Nairobi.
WHO stakeholder workshop builds partnerships for clean cooking in Kenya
A short report on a WHO hosted stakeholder workshop held in Nairobi 15-16 November 2023 that was designed to build innovative partnerships for securing universal access to clean, safe and efficient household energy in Kenya
By bike along the Western Front of World War 1
The story of my 1500 kilometre bike ride along the Western Front of World War 1, an amazing 3-week journey through landscape and history
Towards clean household energy in Africa: experience from the front line in Kenya
Before Coronavirus struck in March 2020, Kenya was pioneering a radical new approach to reducing deaths from household air pollution by training community health workers to inform people about the dangers of traditional polluting fuels and encourage them to switch to cleaner alternatives. The country is aiming for most homes to be using clean energy by 2030, but the health workers’ efforts may be frustrated if policies and investment do not ensure availability and affordability of fuels such...
Kimball Chen: champion of clean cooking fuel for the world’s poor
Cooking should not kill - but it does. It is a sobering fact that more than two million children and adults die prematurely every year from air pollution in their homes. This unhealthy air results from cooking with wood, charcoal, animal dung and kerosene. Over the last 40 years, the number of people in developing countries reliant on these highly polluting household fuels and stoves has remained stubbornly at around 3 billion. This is the story of how, and why, Chinese-American businessman...
Joining the Crazy Club at 60 – three ascents of Mt Ventoux in one day for an African charity
Cycling up the legendary Mt Ventoux three times in one day in your sixties may seem ambitious, unwise even. But with adequate preparation it can be enjoyable and very rewarding.
This article was published on-line by Cycling Plus in April 2020
Exploring Great War History by Bike: The Lost Legacy for Peace of Jean Jaurès
On the wall of a modest café in Montmartre, a plaque marks what could lay claim to being among the most consequential events of the early 20th Century. It states, simply: ‘Here, on 31st July 1914, Jean Jaurès was assassinated’. By firing his shots through the window of the Taverne du Croissant where Jaurès, the Socialist leader, was dining with colleagues, the young nationalist Raoul Villain ended French efforts to avoid war with Germany. The assassin had a second pistol with him, intended for...
Clearing the Air in African Homes: mobilising community health workers in the quest for clean energy
Outline treatment for documentary-style video [DRAFT - Version 1.0] Target audience: Professionals from sectors contributing to household energy policy, technology and services in project countries International agencies addressing health, energy, climate and economic development. Informed general public in sub-Sahara Africa and internationally Potential broadcasters and broadcast opportunities: BBC, BBC4, BBC Discovery, BBC World Service National Geographic Channel 4 YouTube Outline of...
Of Silk and Saints: a week on the shores of Lake Como
"My grandmother kept silkworms beside her bed during the feeding weeks”, recalled Eleanora, the receptionist at Como’s remarkable Silk Museum. “In those days”, she went on, “almost everyone produced silk at home”. The loss of mulberry trees through road and building construction saw the end of silk thread production in northern Italy in 1953. Yet Lombardy, famed for its sparkling lakes nestling between towering peaks, and the villas of the rich and famous, remains the centre of the European...
E-bikes in the mountains: new opportunities or an all-too-easy option?
Thomas Moille, the 32-year old co-owner of bike rental business Mountain Spirit in the Alpine village of Samoens, talks enthusiastically of what electric mountain bikes can offer the keen cyclist. “In summer, you can complete a big tour when time is limited, and power up twisting trails, which otherwise you would walk. Très sportif!”, he exclaims, recalling some great rides. “And, in winter, the e-fatbike is perfect for snow, which is very difficult to ride through without assistance”....
Book review – ‘Explorers’ Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure’
Explorers' Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure, by Huw Lewis-Jones, Kari Herbert. Published by Thames and Hudson £29.95 Choosing a favourite explorer-artist from this treasure trove of a book is an almost impossible task, so rich and varied are the stories and images. One (of many) that stood out for depth of character and achievement was Amelia Edwards (1831-1892). Already a successful novelist by 30 years of age when her parents died, she set out in 1873 to travel...
Historic Grand Prix Gold Cup – Oulton Park
August 2016 Thrilling nose-to-tail racing by Peter Horsman and Rod Jolley saw these two drivers taking first and second places in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Gold Cup, on a gloriously sunny day at Cheshire’s Oulton Park Circuit this Bank Holiday Monday. At an event filled with varied and exciting racing, including a dramatic somersault by Ben Tilley in the Formula Ford championship, the Gold Cup was perhaps the highlight. This race, involving historic grand prix cars dating from the years...
Wine and Landscape: an art exhibition in Fleurie, Beaujolais
April 2016 In the heart of the Beaujolais region lies the village of Fleurie, nestled among the rolling hills of warm granite that produce the delicious, fruity red wine bearing its name. Dominated by the Chapelle de la Madonne that sits watchfully over the village on a nearby hill and graced by a newly refurbished church glowing in the April sun, Fleurie is hosting an exhibition of local art in the smart new Office de Tourisme that adjoins a cave offering wine tasting and sales. Some sixty...