The Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice – Cohort 5 (NSSCJ-V) will be hosted at Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia — one of Africa’s most iconic and historically resonant academic institutions. Nestled in the heart of Addis Ababa, the political and diplomatic capital of the continent, AAU provides a powerful and intentional setting for a program dedicated to centering African voices, knowledge systems, and leadership in the global struggle for climate justice.

This is not just a venue. It is a symbol of African intellectual sovereignty, resistance to colonialism, and the enduring dream of continental unity.

Established in 1950 as part of AAU’s foundational academic structure, the College of Natural and Computational Sciences has grown into a multidisciplinary hub of innovation, education, and research. It comprises 14 departments and several research institutes, offering undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs in fields critical to environmental sustainability and climate resilience:

• Department of Earth Sciences
• Department of Biology
• Department of Environmental Health Sciences
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Physics
• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Computer Science
• Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
• Institute of Geophysics, Space Science and Astronomy
• Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (affiliated)

With over 8,000 students and 400 academic staff, CNCS is at the forefront of scientific training and research in East Africa.

CNCS and Climate Justice: A Commitment to Action
While CNCS is renowned for its rigorous scientific research, it increasingly recognizes that science cannot be neutral in the face of injustice. Climate change is not just an environmental phenomenon — it is a socio-political crisis that disproportionately impacts marginalized communities, women, youth, and rural populations.

In recent years, CNCS has expanded its mandate to include interdisciplinary and justice-oriented research, partnering with social scientists, policymakers, and civil society organizations to ensure that scientific knowledge serves the public good.

Key initiatives include:

Climate Modeling and Early Warning Systems – Led by the Institute of Geophysics, this work supports drought and flood forecasting across the Horn of Africa.
Biodiversity and Conservation Research – The Department of Biology conducts field studies on endangered species and ecosystem resilience in the Ethiopian Highlands and Rift Valley.
Air and Water Quality Monitoring – Environmental Health Sciences researchers assess pollution levels in urban and industrial zones, linking data to public health outcomes.
Renewable Energy and Green Technology Innovation – Physics and Engineering teams are developing solar-powered solutions for off-grid communities.
Data Science for Sustainable Development – Statisticians and computer scientists use big data to track land use change, deforestation, and climate vulnerability.
These efforts provide a critical scientific foundation for NSSCJ-V, ensuring that participants engage with accurate, locally relevant climate data while also questioning who controls this knowledge and who benefits from its application.

Why CNCS is the Ideal Academic Home for NSSCJ-V
Hosting the Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice aligns with CNCS’s evolving vision of responsible science — research and education that is:

• Contextualized in African realities
• Ethically grounded in justice and equity
• Co-created with communities, not imposed upon them
• Linked to policy and action, not isolated in laboratories
• Through this partnership, CNCS:

Opens its classrooms, labs, and libraries to young climate justice leaders from across Africa
Provides access to expert faculty in climate science, ecology, and environmental modeling
Supports field visits and data workshops that ground theory in real-world observation
Encourages students and researchers to engage in transdisciplinary dialogue — connecting natural sciences with law, ethics, economics, and activism
This synergy between scientific rigor and social responsibility makes CNCS a powerful ally in the movement for climate justice.

Facilities and Resources
NSSCJ-V participants will have access to key CNCS facilities, including:

Modern lecture halls and seminar rooms equipped for interactive learning
Environmental Science Laboratories for hands-on demonstrations
Geospatial and Remote Sensing Lab – providing satellite imagery and GIS tools for climate mapping
University Climate Observatory – one of the longest-running meteorological monitoring stations in East Africa
CNCS Library and Digital Resource Center – housing thousands of scientific journals, climate reports, and open-access datasets
These resources will enrich the learning experience, allowing participants to analyze real climate data, visualize environmental change, and develop evidence-based advocacy strategies.

A Call to Reimagine Science for Justice
The College of Natural and Computational Sciences does not see itself as merely a provider of technical knowledge — it sees itself as a steward of truth in service of the people. By partnering with NSSCJ-V, CNCS joins a growing movement across Africa to:

Decolonize science education by integrating indigenous knowledge with modern research
Democratize data so that communities can monitor and defend their environments
Train scientists as activists, capable of speaking truth to power
Center youth and women in scientific leadership and innovation
As Dr. Abebe Kebede, Dean of CNCS, states:

“Science must not only measure the melting glaciers — it must also question the systems that caused them to melt. At CNCS, we are training a new generation of scientists who are not afraid to do both.”