I am Marvin Tiemessen, 23 years old, and in the past three months I have been an intern at KenyaClimate Innovation Centre (KCIC). I am from the Netherlands and flew all the way over to Kenya for a wonderful experience here. This internship was part of my graduate program in Sustainable Energy Technology at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).
KCIC is a non-profit enterprise aimed to assist entrepreneurs and SMEs who are working in the field of renewable energy, agri-business and water management. Our Sustainability team is working on training entrepreneurs’ sustainability skills, increase environmental awareness and research on sustainability.
Diversity at KCIC
Working at the frontline of sustainability with a range of diverse clients makes working at KCIC an enriching experience. The clients from Renewable Energy, Water management and Agri-business each have their own story to tell together with an inventive technology they are developing or making.
The people I have worked with at KCIC are a fun bunch of people and are certainly an expert in their own field. Due to the various services KCIC offers while being a relatively small organisation, it brings people together with different backgrounds. Together, it makes for a strong team.
Moreover, I have the feeling that we are all working towards a common goal: making the world a better place for society and the environment. Personally, I have worked on two main projects; Supporting clients with technical innovations by constructing a toolbox for sustainability (assessment) and improvements for SMEs, and secondly, developing an environmental sustainability index for Kenyan industry.
Final thoughts on the internship
What made this internship special was working from different angles and disciplines. Due to the diverse nature of work, I had to use my technical skills, use economic logic, and use the Sustainable Development Goals as a leading framework for sustainability assessment. It was fun to use several parts of my master and bachelor’s degree in my internship- I am valuing my study even more now!
November 1st marked the end of my internship and my lovely time here in Kenya. This day was a training for all KCIC’s clients about sustainability, what it is to them and how they can incorporate sustainability into their daily practices and operations. Now, I will travel the country a bit and then head home to the Netherlands. There I will complete my thesis for my Master Sustainable Energy Technology by the summer of 2019. By then I will have an MScdegree and can begin my journey as a sustainability champion…
