Students learning about solar refrigeration at ACES. The course covers solar energy basics, system design, installation, configuration, maintenance, and energy storage solutions like batteries and thermal systems, ensuring certified competence in solar solutions. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi
In a world facing climate change, food insecurity, and rising public health demands, cooling systems are no longer a background utility; they are critical infrastructure. From safeguarding life-saving vaccines to reducing post-harvest losses and stabilising food supply chains, sustainable cooling underpins resilient and inclusive development.
At the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES), this is creating a new frontier in technical and professional education. Its accredited Academy trains technicians, engineers, health specialists, consultants, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to design, install, and manage clean cooling systems across Africa and beyond.
The Academy’s Essentials courses build a technical foundation. Among them, there are Essentials in Brazing Techniques for Refrigeration Systems and Essentials on Phase Change Materials (PCMs) designed for HVAC technicians, refrigeration practitioners, and professionals seeking to enhance practical skills and improve system efficiency and reliability.
ACES offers a 10-day refrigeration course with theory and practicals, designed to equip participants to design, install, operate, and maintain systems. It covers theoretical principles and hands-on skills needed for refrigeration work. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi
Renewable Energies in Refrigeration (Solar Refrigeration – Advanced) targets engineers and installers working in off-grid and agricultural contexts, strengthening their capacity to deploy solar-powered cooling solutions.
Other Essentials courses expand access for non-technical stakeholders. Courses on Cold-Chain Systems, GE(D)SI Integration in Cooling and Cold-Chain Sectors, and Food Safety are designed for development practitioners, food value-chain actors, policymakers, and consultants. They provide strategic insights into sustainable and inclusive cooling systems.
Farmers at a workshop on the ACES Rubirizi campus, learning about the importance of the cold chain and how they could benefit from it. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi
The Foundation in Cold-Chain programme offers structured entry-level training in refrigeration principles and supply chain management, making it accessible to participants without a prior technical background.
For advanced learners, the Refrigeration Technician Course provides intensive, practice-based training for aspiring and practising technicians, while Cold-Chain for Global Health serves health professionals and logistics specialists responsible for vaccine preservation, biobanking, and temperature-controlled medical supply chains.
GESI in the Cooling and Cold-Chain Foundation. This foundation course introduces the importance of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in the cooling and cold-chain sector, with a focus on the opportunities it unlocks. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi
At the leadership level, the 'Train the Trainer (PG-Cert)' pathway prepares sector champions to disseminate expertise nationally and regionally, with advancement pathways to Apprenticeship Level 6 and a Master of Science in Clean Cooling.
Rather than offering isolated modules, ACES provides a coherent skills pipeline, from technical mastery to systems leadership. This pictorial story captures that journey in action, positioning cooling as both a technical discipline and a strategic driver of sustainable development in Rwanda and across Africa.
Patience Niyigena, an ACES trainee, practices precision brazing with instructor Joseph Hakuzimana during a workshop. The training emphasizes pipe-joining techniques vital to refrigeration and air-conditioning systems, highlighting technical accuracy, safety, and system integrity in cold-chain setups. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Benjamin Mugabo
A farmer notes during a cold-chain workshop at ACES Rubirizi, with her child on her back, attentively following the session. The training provides smallholder producers with practical knowledge of temperature-controlled storage and transport, emphasizing how reliable cooling reduces post-harvest losses, safeguards incomes, and boosts local food security. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi
Photographs from the GESI in Cooling and Cold-Chain Foundation Training by ACES show a course blending gender and social inclusion theory with practical exercises. Participants, including diverse cold-chain stakeholders, focus on ensuring marginalized groups access training, resources, technology, services, and decision-making. Photo: Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi.
Helen Gizachew Wubishet and Rosa visit Rwanda Medical Supply during the Cold Chain for Global Health Course at ACES. Representing Ethiopia, they use emergency medicine, healthcare logistics, and innovation to improve vaccine storage and supply chains, showcasing pan-African collaboration in global health. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi
ACES Cold-Chain for Global Health cohort 2 visited Zipline Muhanga. In low- and middle-income countries, cold chains face challenges like outdated infrastructure, insufficient training, and unreliable power. They learned about solar refrigeration, smart monitoring, and redesigning systems for vaccine development, biomanufacturing, and biobanking from a One Health perspective. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi
Participants examine a sample during ACES’ "Train the Trainer Programme.” With over 30% of food lost and 25% of vaccines wasted globally—often due to fragile cold-chain systems—the programme trains community leaders in refrigeration, cold-chain use, cooling hub design, and sustainable supply chain models. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille IsimbiThis recognition confirms that the programme now offers students a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Train the Trainer - Clean Cooling and a Master of Science (MSc) in Clean Cooling, marking a significant step forward in professionalising the global clean cooling and cold-chain workforce. The accreditation recognises the high academic and professional standards of the programme and its alignment with IAgrE's mission to promote engineering excellence, innovation, and sustainability in agriculture, the environment, and food systems. With this approval, the following qualifications are now formally recognised:Postgraduate Certificate (1 year): PGCert Train the Trainer - Clean CoolingMaster of Science (2 years): MSc in Clean Cooling, with three specialisation streams:- Sustainable Cooling- Cold-Chain for and Value Addition- Cold-Chain and Business Models The deep-dive TtT course provides community leaders and mobilisers with comprehensive knowledge in refrigeration, cold-chain applications, cooling hub design, and the essential business models for food and pharma. It includes 10 x 1-week modules; at the end of the course, successful candidates will receive a PGCert. The programme can be extended by one year for students who wish to gain specialised knowledge in specific fields in relation to the sustainable cold-chain. At the end of which they will be awarded an MSc.
RBC staff orient ACES trainees inside Rwanda’s National Vaccination Programme facilities during a field component of the Cold-Chain for Global Health Course. The visit provides practical insight into the management of temperature-controlled vaccine storage and distribution systems that underpin national immunisation efforts. Photo by Clean Cooling Network | Mireille Isimbi