Women-In-WACREN Climate Innovation Lab 2026

12 Oct 2026, 08:30 → 15 Oct 2026, 17:00 Africa/Accra

Abuja

Abigail Essel, Amina Ramallan (WACREN)

Women-In-WACREN (WiW) is hosting the Climate Innovation Lab 2026, a structured innovation programme that combines a virtual network of women in STEM, an intensive in-person Climate Innovation Lab, and a post-lab mentorship programme.

The programme aims to strengthen the capacity of women in STEM across West and Central Africa to collaboratively design and develop innovative digital solutions that address climate change adaptation and mitigation challenges within their communities and institutions.

Monday 12 October

1 Registration & Networking

Participants and mentors assemble

2 Welcome & Innovation Lab Briefing

Explain the challenge, four-day journey, six-month pathway and expected prototype, participant introductions

Speaker: Abigail Essel

3 Climate Challenges & People

Introduce the climate-resilience challenges and the people/institutions affected

Speaker: Prof. Amos Kabo-Bah (AfriGEO)

4 From Problems to Solutions

Short practical introduction to human-centred design, users, value propositions and assumptions

Speaker: Dr Vivian Chinwe Nnamdi

10:45 Tea Break

5 Team Lab 1: Understand the Problem

Teams examine their assigned challenge, identify target users, needs/pain points, existing approaches and underlying assumptions

6 Problem Review with Mentors

Each team presents its problem statement and receives challenge/feedback before designing the solution

13:30 Lunch

7 From Ideas to Testable Prototypes

What constitutes a prototype; choosing what needs to be demonstrated rather than building everything

Speaker: Mr Joshua Opoku Agyemang (IoT Network Hub Africa)

8 Team Lab 2: Define the Solution

Define intervention, value proposition, key user journey, critical assumptions and prototype scope

9 Day 1 Checkpoint

Output: validated/refined problem statement + target users + proposed intervention + critical assumptions + prototype scope

Speaker: Abigail Essel

Tuesday 13 October

10 Team Build Plans

Teams present what they intend to demonstrate by the end of the day

11 Technology Clinic

Just-in-time introduction to relevant tools, data, AI, APIs, low/no-code, web/mobile etc. based on actual team needs

12 Build Sprint 1

Develop core user journey/proof of concept

10:45 Tea Break

13 Build Sprint 2

Build the critical functionality or simulation needed to test the idea

13:30 Lunch

14 Build Sprint 3

Integrate data/content, complete prototype flow and prepare demonstration

15 Mentor Prototype Review

Mentors test whether the prototype actually demonstrates the team's central proposition

16 Day 2 Checkpoint

Output: testable prototype + defined assumptions/questions for user testing

Speaker: Amina Ramallan (WACREN)

Wednesday 14 October

17 How to Test an Idea

What constitutes useful evidence; testing assumptions rather than asking whether people "like" the prototype

Speaker: Ms Chineme Esor

18 User Testing Round 1

Intended users/domain representatives interact with prototypes; teams observe and collect structured feedback

Speaker: Ms Zainab Usman

10:45 Tea Break

19 Team Lab: What Did We Learn?

Analyse feedback: confirmed assumptions, rejected assumptions, unexpected findings

20 Refinement Sprint 1

Prioritise and implement the most important changes

13:00 Lunch

21 Refinement Sprint 2

Improve prototype and test critical changes

22 From Prototype to Pilot

Introduce the transition from a four-day prototype to a six-month development/pilot

Speaker: Joshua Opoku Agyemang (IoT Network Hub Africa)

23 Demo & Evidence Preparation

Teams prepare problem → evidence → solution → prototype → learning → next-step story

24 Day 3 Readiness Review

Output: refined prototype + user evidence + lessons + initial six-month development hypothesis

Speaker: Amina Ramallan (WACREN)

Thursday 15 October

25 Registration & Networking

Community members, partners and guests arrive

26 Women in WACREN Community Day Opening

Explain what teams were asked to achieve—and importantly what they were not expected to achieve in four days

Speaker: Abigail Essel

27 Keynote: Women, Technology & Climate Resilience

Wider context and inspiration

Speaker: Prof. Christine Ofulue (NOUN)

28 Team Prototype Demonstrations

6 teams × 12 minutes: problem, users, evidence, prototype demonstration, what they learned, what they need to prove next

11:40 Tea Break

29 Expert & Mentor Reflections

Structured feedback: desirability, feasibility, potential impact and key unanswered questions

30 Partner/Community Spotlights

Relevant communities and organisations; focus on resources/opportunities that could help teams

31 Panel: From the Lab to the Boardroom — Building a Leadership Path in STEM

Connect innovation activity with women's leadership and professional development

14:00 Lunch & Networking

32 Community Conversation

Experiences, connections, country perspectives and opportunities for collaboration

33 Commitments & Closing

Teams state what they will take forward; mentor/partner acknowledgements and closing

Speaker: Abigail Essel