Zanzibaris have become so accustomed to plastic waste in the streets that they don’t even notice it anymore. Thousands of plastic bottles are shipped to the islands every day to quench the thirst of the many tourists and the local population. Unfortunately, discarded bottles end up on the beautiful beaches and in the streets where they become potential breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitos. Researcher Aziza Abdulqadir is trying to find solutions to this environmental health challenge. 

For more than a decade, the research capacity development programme ‘Building Stronger Universities’ has strengthened higher education institutions in Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Nepal. This podcast series zooms in on and explores the story, experiences and results of the partnership between Danish universities and the State University of Zanzibar.

• Episode 1: Building a stronger university (24 min)
• Episode 2: Fatma and the mosquitos (11:30 min)
• Episode 3: Biubwa and the food waste (09:30 min)
• Episode 4: Aziza and the plastic waste (06:30 min)
• Episode 5: Idrissa and the seagrass (10:00 min)
• Episode 6: Women in academia (11:30 min)

Host: Morten Mechlenborg Nørulf, University of Copenhagen’s School of Global Health

Editing technician: Christian Grimes Schmidt, University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Online and Blended Learning

‘Building Stronger Universities’ is produced by University of Copenhagen’s School of Global Health and Centre for Online and Blended Learning. The podcast is funded by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.