Energy access programmes in sub-Saharan Africa often fail because they measure success by counting grid connections, not by whether communities can actually use that energy to improve their lives. This research tackles a blind spot in energy development: the gap between installing infrastructure and delivering real well-being gains. In The Gambia and Ghana, the team will build and test a "well-being design framework" that forces energy projects to account for health, gender equality, climate resilience, and local economic needs from the start, not as an afterthought. If it works, the framework gives governments, funders, and installers a practical tool to design interventions that people can actually use—reliable lighting for clinics, clean cooking that doesn't worsen respiratory disease, power that supports women-run businesses rather than bypassing them. The project pilots small-scale interventions in off-grid communities, comparing outcomes against control sites to measure what changes. The result is not a new technology but a decision-making process: a way to stop building energy systems that look good on paper but leave people behind.
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Communities are built around shared resource of commodities. Today, no commodity is more important than energy. Energy access, clean energy and energy cost link multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including climate action, health and gender equality. Communities with clean, cost-effective and reliable energy sources can thrive, supporting education, healthcare and equal gender opportunities. Conversely, communities without clean energy access must rely on labour intensive, dirty fuels for lighting, cooking and heating. These have detrimental impacts on well-being for hundreds of millions of people globally. Energy systems are often designed with linear goals (e.g. number of households connected to a grid) without consideration of just, effective, energy transitions. This marginalises communities: linear goals do not align with community needs, working directly against the Ayrton theme of Inclusive Energy and Leave No One Behind. This proposed research addresses this Ayrton theme, creating a transdisciplinary well-being design framework that considers socio-economic, environmental, health and technological conditions, to improve inclusion and sustainability of energy access interventions. Focussing on The Gambia and Ghana, this research will answer the question: To what extent does the utilisation of a well-being framework act as a driver for sustainable energy system design and enable an inclusive energy transition? Local research institutions MRC Unit The Gambia, University of The Gambia, Mbolo Association, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana are proposal co-creators and will direct this into relevant Africa-centric research. The following objectives are proposed: Understand success, failure and the well-being impacts of energy interventions by reviewing and mapping previous energy access initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. Create a holistic well-being framework, utilising transdisciplinary methodologies to transform energy system design (SHINE framework). Pilot the SHINE framework on small-scale energy interventions in energy vulnerable communities in The Gambia and Ghana. Evaluate the usability and outcome of the SHINE framework on overall energy system design. Capacity building and knowledge transfer to local, national, and international stakeholders, to secure scalable, sustainable impact of the SHINE framework. Using a case control methodology, we will pilot the SHINE framework through energy interventions with off-grid communities. Analysis themes of gender and social inclusion; climate; health; policy and economic; and technology will impart the SHINE framework on energy system design. Monitoring, through quantitative and qualitative data collection, will highlight the intervention’s efficacy, scale and performance. The anticipated outcomes of this programme are: Creation of an interdisciplinary well-being framework that drives energy system design for inclusive energy transitions (SDG7.1 7.A). Open datasets (socio-economic, gender and social inclusion variables), reporting energy situations of off-grid communities and the well-being impact of energy interventions (SDG7.1, 7.2, 7.3 7.A). A policy brief, highlighting opportunities of a well-being framework to create an environment for effective, impactful energy interventions (SDG7.B 13.2; 13.B). A technology/knowledge transfer programme to build skills, capacity and capability of stakeholders, local communities and women entrepreneurs (SDG7.A, 13.3, 13.B) SHINE’s impact will enable designers and implementers to incorporate, increase and measure inclusivity, health, sustainability and other multi-dimensional wellbeing impacts. This will provide a clear pathway for just energy transition in The Gambia and Ghana. SHINE will work towards all SDG7 targets, providing a framework for energy service providers to follow, whilst contributing to SDG13 targets for climate action and climate education for adaptation, resilience and reduced impact of changes (13.1,13.3).
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