IOR And ACES Sign MOU to Foster International Collaboration
The Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) and the African Centre for Excellence in Sustainable Cold Chain (ACES) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen collaboration and promote the exchange of ideas and expertise during the Clean Cooling Network Conference on the Sustainable Cold Chain for the Global South, taking place at the University of Birmingham from 28–29 October 2025.
As part of this agreement, technicians who undergo the Clean Cooling Academy training in Rwanda and India will be supported by ACES to become members of the Institute of Refrigeration and gain access to the huge range of training and technical resources available to members. This represents a significant advancement in embedding professional and educational continuing professional development within the training of technicians graduating from the Academy's programmes, encompassing key competencies such as refrigerant handling, safety, brazing, and cold-chain operation. Additionally, the IOR will be encouraging links between UK companies and the Academy to develop internship exchanges – potentially bringing technicians from Rwanda to spend time in UK businesses and organising UK expert visits to the Academy and local businesses.
Pictured above are Miriam Rodway CEO of the IOR and Professor Toby Peters, University of Birmingham and Director of ACES at the Clean Cooling Network Conference on the Sustainable Cold Chain for the Global South.
Upon signing the MOU, Professor Peters commented: "We're delighted to formalise this partnership and look forward to working closely with your team to advance our shared goals in sustainable cooling and cold-chain capacity development."
Miriam Rodway added: "IOR has been part of many international projects and collaborations in the past. This new partnership is particularly important as it will help support improved cold-chains that are essential for food security, pharmaceuticals, improving health, economic outlooks and environmental impact. These are global issues that need us all to work together to address."
About ACES
ACES is a first-of-its-kind global Centre of Excellence, focused on developing holistic and sustainable system-level cold-chain solutions. Built on a "Hub and SPOKE" model, ACES shares knowledge, training, and technical support across markets. ACES serves as the first regional Hub, while SPOKEs, developed with in-country expert partners, provide local training and community support to put tested real-world solutions into practice. The Clean Cooling Network (CCN) connects all Hubs and SPOKEs, offering a single, consistent source of data, delivery models, tested technologies, training resources, governance frameworks, and standard operating procedures.
About the IOR
The Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) is an independent registered charity run for the public benefit reflecting the diversity of the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sector (RACHP). It provides a central resource for people from all over the world to improve the application of refrigeration and allied fields for the general good of society with particular emphasis on environment, efficiency, safety and innovation.