Research project "Solar Cookers For All" Gets Its Own Documentary
Researchers from Hasselt University and the University of Lubumbashi (DR Congo) have won the prestigious Science Pitch award at the DOCVILLE documentary film festival. Their project, Solar Cookers for All, develops affordable solar cookers made from recycled materials, offering a sustainable solution for everyday cooking. Thanks to this achievement, the research will now be the subject of its own science documentary, which will be broadcast on Canvas in 2027.
Sustainable solar cookers
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 90% of households use charcoal for cooking. This contributes to widespread deforestation and causes significant health problems. At the same time, it also limits opportunities for women and girls, who are traditionally responsible for cooking and are therefore most affected.
As an alternative to charcoal, the Sc4all project is developing user-friendly, circular solar cookers made from locally available and often recycled materials. These cookers heat food using reflective panels that concentrate and redirect sunlight.
With a solar cooker, you use the sun’s energy directly. It is both sustainable and efficient. However, most commercial solar cookers currently on the market cost hundreds of euros, making them inaccessible for communities in countries such as the DRC.
Science Pitch
For the fourth consecutive year, DOCVILLE, the largest and most important documentary film festival in Belgium, organised the Science Pitch. This competition gives researchers and filmmakers the opportunity to translate scientific research into a documentary format.
From submissions across all five Flemish universities, two projects were selected. One of the selected projects is Solar Cookers for All, a collaboration between Hasselt University and the University of Lubumbashi, supported by VLIRUOS.
