Scientific tools, and among them mathematical models in particular, are widely applied across the EU and the AU to support strategic planning for climate-compatible development. They are used by national and local authorities, research institutes and civil society organisations, often with the support of international organisations, development partners, academia and consulting firms. In other words, mathematical models are an important part of the energy planning ecosystem in both the EU and the AU. However, the scientific insights derived from these tools have not always supported the strategic energy planning process successfully. Sometimes uncoordinated and biased approaches to model design and application by the involved actors on the EU and AU side have led to poor reflection of country-specific (and even sub-national) social, technology, economic, and environmental conditions. The result is often a lack of ownership and credibility and thus limited take-up in planning and policymaking processes. This has, in turn, limited the support modelling tools and applications could provide for the AU-EU High Level Policy Dialogue for Science, Technology and Innovation.

RE-INTEGRATE addresses this gap. The project’s ambition is to support the African Union and European Union in jointly leveraging local and international technical expertise, financial resources, and fit-for-purpose energy-economy-environment (3E) modelling tools for designing coordinated, effective and equitable climate-compatible development strategies within the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Partnership. In order to fulfil this ambition, the overall aim is to analyze and understand existing energy planning ecosystems in and across the AU and EU and, within them, establish an enabling and non-exclusive environment for the sharing of knowledge, fit-to-context modelling toolkits and modelling expertise on climate-compatible energy strategies and development.