Looking back, looking forward: Beth Tennyson
Beth Tennyson looks back at 4 years with CCG in a pivotal role as Country Programme Manager, establishing lasting partnerships with countries across the Global South.
I got involved with CCG after working with Lara Allen when I was a post-doctoral researcher in the Physics department in the University of Cambridge, investigating solar cells. I wanted to do a research project that also aligned with development, so my supervisor, Prof Sam Stranks, recommended a collaborative project with the Centre for Global Equality, which Lara and the Centre for Global Equality was a part of, along with Bahia Dar University. We were investigating the needs of irrigation systems for small holder farmers in Ethiopia and whether solar could offer a solution.
When that project was coming to an end Lara told me about CCG and said she thought I would be a good fit because of my technical knowledge, organised approach and how I work with people. I started with CCG in January 2021 supporting Lara with a series of deliverables including an Inception Workshop in Kenya, to find out what the country’s priorities were.
We started to identify potential collaborators in Kenya and got our foot in the door. But this was all virtual because of COVID so we couldn’t go to the country in person. However, we were able to pull off a successful workshop which was really exciting.
My first task in CCG – organising this online workshop – was also a good opportunity for me to introduce myself to all the CCG consortium members and explain what we were planning to do. Through this, along with meeting the FCDO team in Nairobi, I was able to find people with knowledge and connections in Kenya. I started collating a list of potential guests and it snowballed from there.
One of my other first tasks was to identify a partner organisation that could host the CCG programme within both Kenya and Lao PDR. At the time I wasn’t sure what type of organisation CCG would want as a potential partner; maybe an NGO maybe an academic institution. But for Kenya it always came back to Strathmore University because their vision of what CCG had to offer was well aligned to ours.
That approach became the model for all countries after that, for example, we were in parallel scoping for a partner institution in Lao PDR. We realised that academic universities resonated the most with what we were doing in terms of partnership. In Lao PDR we chose National University of Laos and have partnered with universities across all of our other partner countries ever since.
The most daunting aspect of these first few months working with CCG was delivering with essentially a blank slate. I recall not quite knowing what the programme was going to become, or which themes would emerge to be researched. CCG is demand-led, and I think people within our partner countries responded to that positive flexibility which encouraged them to work with us. It was challenging but rewarding and a lot of partnerships still exist today from that period.
In those early days, where there wasn’t much (especially compared to today) that was tangible about CCG as a research programme, it was crucial that I built trust with academics and government ministers in Kenya and Lao PDR. I think a big part of that was listening to them, which I did with earnestness, and then delivering on any promises made. My approach was that once I found out how CCG could collaborate, I would find ways to do this across the CCG consortium, and importantly, follow through.
It was also crucial that I kept track of how each relationship was developing; what was their priority and was I following up properly? If you do that consistently and with intention, people will start to give you their trust, because it’s being earned. I also think it’s important not to overpromise but to manage expectations while being positive. Just knowing people as people, asking interesting questions and trying to get to know them on a human level is how I like to work.
Again, if CCG couldn’t do something that it was being asked for, it was important that we managed that well because we want to maintain a long-term relationship with a variety of organisations. So, we’d talk about why it might not be possible but always invite other ideas that might be doable.
One part of the CCG ethos that makes the programme a pleasure to work within was that everyone’s a potential collaborator. We don’t want to be competitors. We’re happy to work with people who qualify as “competitors”, and we’d rather collaborate to deliver something useful for our partner countries. That aligns so much with how I would want to work so the fact that it came from the Director was resonant.
Thinking about some of the other rewarding aspects of working with CCG, I’ve learned so much about many different fields at different points in my time here. I had my material science, physics, solar cells knowledge and CCG has certainly expanded that, as I hoped it would. Things like policy and how it’s decided; the complex systems within countries that I would never have experienced in my lab. I never stopped learning throughout the entire experience and I’m so grateful for that. And I never felt like I compromised on any of my personal values – CCG and the Centre for Global Equality always aligned with my own views. The approach taken is demand-led and we want to hear from the countries first and be agnostic in terms of the energy so that they decide what’s right for them. All of this was so aligned to how I’d work and moving forward, that’s not something I’ll take for granted. So, I feel really privileged to have had that opportunity. But the most rewarding thing was just seeing how the research evolved and the amount of passion that people bring to it. Researchers in countries that we work in are so inspiring, so dedicated. I just feel in awe of all the work that’s being done. And I just feel proud to have been a small part of creating and generating the ecosystem we now have.
Four years after joining CCG, I think I’m more confident in walking through the world technically, and I’ve become more balanced in being sympathetic to the fact that most of the time you’re not hearing the full story, and that there are always complex reasons behind decision making.
I want to continue working in the climate energy transition space. It has continuously drawn me in, and my personal goal is always to contribute where I feel most useful based on my skills. There is so much work to be done in working towards the continuous energy transition, with the ultimate need to reduce emissions and create a more sustainable future. And working towards justice, inclusion and equality have become more important to me throughout my career. That goal will be achieved more quickly if we work in partnership and that’s where I really thrive.
Beth was talking to CCG’s Peter Allen. Find her on LinkedIn here.