I am a UK-based consultant, working for a range of UN organisations, NGOs and companies through HED Consulting. I have a background in science (Bsc Applied Physics) and social-science (MA Rural Development), and this reflects my interest in the technology and human aspects of household energy. My interest and involvement in the sector began when I ran a small, participatory, improved stove design project in India in 2000. The shortcomings of this project brought into focus the challenges of designing efficient, clean-burning, desirable stoves - and I have worked on these issues ever since.
After a period as a researcher at WEDC, Loughborough University, I was seconded to the World Health Organisation in 2005 to develop household energy monitoring and evaluation tools. Much of my work now relates to quantifying the impacts of improved stoves on the global environemnt, indoor air, and fuel consumption. I also have a particulay interest in user consultation using participatory methods. Most of my work as a trainer and advisor has been in South Asia and Africa.
Contact Information
Our Focus
As a consultant, my job is to support others to achieve targets. I work for a range of organisations, including the World Bank in Bangladesh where we are planning an intervention which should reach many hundred of thousands with clean cooking technologies. More recently I have worked on carbon-financed stove programmes (Gold Standard and SSC CDM, mainly with JP Morgan Climate Care) some of which are equally - or more - ambitious in their targets.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
Many of the socio-cultural barriers to using improved fuels and stoves could be overcome if they were better understood. Over the last few decades we have seen a welcome shift in focus away from technology, and towards 'software' (i.e. social, cultural, economic etc.). However, we still have some way to go in getting technical people talking to field workers and social scientists, and in consulting users. Users have the most intimate knowledge of their wants and needs, and taking pains to understand these is essential for developing desirable and sustainable solutions.
Viewing users as consumers, and taking a market approach requires technologies to perform well, deliver good value, and fulfil the wants and needs of users. With commercialisation comes responsibility, not to aggressively market, and to deliver genuine value and ensure the very poor can access the market. I am committed to identifying viable commercial approaches which can achieve scale.
None noted
I developed the WHO Catalogue of Methods for evaluating household energy & health interventions, published in 2008 (see publications below). I was also a trainer for the WHO/ PCIA M&E training workshops in Guatemala, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Relevant Publications or Studies
Most recent: 'Evaluating Household Energy and Health Interventions: a Catalogue of Methods.' Jonathan Rouse, with Eva Rehfuesse and Lisa Büttner, World Health Organisation 2008. (www.who.int/indoorair/publications/methods)
See www.hedconsulting.com/publications.html for other publications, including links to training materials.
Our Contribution to the Partnership
In addition to ongoing engagement with the PCIA and its organisers I exploring - the development of a stove marketing handbook; and - the need and scope for providing technical advice to PCIA partners
