Solar Cookers International Network

About SCWNet

Solar Cookers World Network (SCWNet) - formerly Solar Cookers International Association (SCIA) - is a worldwide community of independent agencies and individual promoters and advocates of solar cookers, pasteurizers and food processers. SCWNet was formed at the 2006 International Conference on Solar Cookers and Food Processing in Granada, Spain [1] and revised and renamed following the 2009 Solar Food Conference in Indore, India.

As of February 2009 members include 95 agencies and 160 individuals from 48 countries (list below) and represent diverse devices, strategies, and programs. All members - both organizations and individual - have pages in this wiki unless they choose not to. All are encouraged to edit and add information to their page as needed.

SCWNet's purpose: to improve health, economics and environments through collective actions to spread of solar cooking, pasteurizing and food processing.

SCWNet's messages:

• Solar cookers are saving lives and improving health,

economics and environments for about 2 million families and are urgently needed by millions more in fuel-scarce, sun-rich areas.

• Solar cookers often reduce need for other fuels by 1/3.
• Virtually all foods can be cooked as well or better in one or more types of solar cookers.
• Today's solar food technologies are clean, safe, convenient and

pollution-free; they save fuel, time and money; and they reduce respiratory and intestinal diseases and burns from open fires.

• Multiple benefits of cooking, pasteurizing and food processing are well

documented in many regions.

Contact

SCWNet Secretariat, Bev Blum, USA
scwnet@solarcooking.org
or blumbev@aol.com

Recent news and developments

• February 2009: SCWNet Newsletter
• November 2008: SCIA Newsletter
• October 2008: SCIA Newsletter
• May 2008: SCIA Newsletter
• March 2008: News from the SCI Association - Solar Cooker Review
• January 2008: SCIA Newsletter
• July 2007: SCIA Newsletter
• March 2007: SCI Association: Ready to be heard - Solar Cooker Review

Structure

Solar Cookers World Network

Steering Committee

Lead agencies for each of six Sections appoint reps to the Steering Committee.

These Sections replace/revise small Task Forces. Members are encouraged to participate either a) by adding to the Sections below, or b) more formally in any of the sections at http://solarcooking.org/discuss. Each section works mostly independently among its interested participants to avoid any centralized 'bottleneck.'

ADVOCACY NET

Advocacy Net's purpose is to encourage advocacy at all levels by SCWNet members to educate policy makers that solar cookers, pasteurizers and food processers address their institutional goals.
Advocacy Net is represented on the SCWNet Steering Committee for 2009-2010 by:
Solar Cookers International (SCI) reps Dr. Sonia Heptonstall (Switzerland) and Dr. A.J. Lederman (USA) and
Solar Household Energy (SHE-Inc.) rep Patricia McArdle
Advocacy resolutions to date

ADVOCACY OPPORTUNITY - MARCH 2009

From Dr. Sonia Heptonstall, Advocacy Chair. Deadline is 25 March 2009.

The UN World Health Organization seeks NGO examples of the importance of enlisting Local Knowledge in health-related programs such as solar cooking/pasteurizing/food processing programs for inclusion in a Technical Paper for the 7th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 2009. Your anecdotes - short or long - must be submitted by 25 March 2009 to sozanski@ngos4healthpromotion.net and copied to heptonstall@chenay.com. Your entry may have long term local benefits for your programs.

Template for submission to the U.N.W.H.O. Health Promotion:
1. Title of project
2. Setting/Location (Please be as specific as possible)
3. Time period

Start from:

End on:

4. Brief description of project

• • Target population
  • Describe specific problem or issue that was addressed
  • Describe how local knowledge or community assets were harnessed
  • Main outcomes
  • Lessons learnt
    

5. Contributors contact

• • Organisation:
  • Name(s):
  • Email(s):
  • Telephone(s):

TECHNOLOGY NET

To develop standards for evaluating solar cookers performance for diverse consumer needs; develop trainig to help members to upscale capacity to produce, distribute, and provide training and maintaince services. Steering Committee rep:
Promoters & Researchers in Non Conventional Energy (PRINCE) (India) - Prof. Ajay Chandak

COMMUNICATIONS NET

To expand and improve publicity, visibility and links to other networks through websites, member e-news, conferences, etc. also double network membership. Steering Committee reps:
SCWNet Secretariat - Bev Blum (USA)
Solar Food Processing Network (SFPN) - Rolf Behringer (Germany)

THREE REGIONAL NETWORKS: To encourage regional networking and participation in all SCWNet sections. Also guide and monitor progress for SCWNet overall. Steering Committee reps:

AFRICA NET

Represented on the SCWNet Steering Committee by
Solar Cookers for Africa Network - Crosby Menzies (South Africa)

ASIA PACIFIC NET

Represented on the SCWNet Steering Committee by
Center for Rural Technology Nepal (CRTN) - Ganesh Ram Shrestha (Nepal)
Barli Development Institute for Rural Women - pending
International Center for Networking, Ecology, Education & Re-integration (ICNEER) - Eng. Deepak Gadhia (India)

IBERO-LATIN AMERICA NET

Represented on the SCWNet Steering Committee by
Red Cosinas Solares (RECOSOL) Prof. Ing. Pedro Serrano

See also Internet discussion forum.

Membership

• Organizations and individuals who support SCWNet's purpose are welcome

to join. There are no dues for 2009. Donations are encouraged but optional.

• TO JOIN this worldwide network of advocates and promoters of

solar food technologies fill out the SCWNet Membership form and email completed form to scwnet@solarcooking.org

OR

print out & mail to Secretariat Bev Blum, 4271 Round Valley Circle, Stockton, CA, 95207 USA.

• DONATIONS ARE WELCOME and will support the all-volunteer

work of this network. Donate by credit card or PayPal through [http://65.108.108.197/catalog/supportthesciassociationscia-p-59.html our online application]. All donations are tax-deductible in the USA through SCI, a 501-c-3 charitable organization. THANK YOU.

Solar Cookers World Network Members by World Region and Country

• Africa
• Asia Pacific
• Ibero Latin America
• Europe-America-Canada

Internet discussion forum

An Internet discussion forum that allows association members to freely share ideas and experiences has recently been launched.