Description
The purpose of the first Short Course in Africa was to give “a state of the art” overview of the possibilities and status of surface geothermal exploration in East Africa. In all, 23 trainees attended from Kenya (10), Djibouti (2), Eritrea (3), Ethiopia (3), Tanzania (2), and Uganda (3), i.e. the six ARGeo countries. The lectures and practical exercises were mainly in the hands of Icelandic (UNU-GTP and ISOR – Iceland GeoSurvey) and Kenyan (KenGen) lecturers, with one additional lecturer coming from each of the other participating countries. Most of the African lecturers were former UNU Fellows. The Short Course consisted of two main parts, a scientific part with lectures covering the three important fields of surface exploration of geothermal resources, i.e. geology, geophysics and chemistry of thermal fluids, including many case examples, during the first half. The second half continued with presentations and discussions on the status of exploration in the different countries and practical training including field demonstrations and use of computer programmes. The Short Course was very well received and from the results of an assessment meeting of all participants during the last day, it was clear that the Short Course had been a success. The basic model was one that should be repeated but suggestions were made of improvements and considerable additions.