Nyhet: 2020-12-09
“Varje ny utmaning ger ett ypperligt tillfälle och möjlighet att genom samarbete genomföra högkvalitativ forskning”, sade Ernest Aryeetey Secretary General of African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA).
Samarbete mellan kontinenter öppnar upp nya möjligheter för forskare inom olika temåområden i Afrika (och Europa), ”train-the-trainer” utbildning är en bra strategi för att komma vidare i utbyte av erfarenheter och stärka kommunikation och lärdomar i låg- och medelinkomstländer.
Professor Ernest Aryeetey (ARUA) och Docent och affilierad forskare och docent Madelene Ostwald, Chalmers, höll huvudtal vid Global Sustainable Futures konferens den 25 november. Omkring 60 deltagare från olika universitet och länder deltog i online-evebtet “Research collaboration in low- and middle- income countries – findings, lessons and ways forward for implementing Agenda 2030”.
Några av målen för dagen var att skapa möjligheter för forskare vid Chalmers och Göteborgs universitet, och vid flera internationella universitet; att finna varandra, nätverka och utbyta erfarenheter kring en bredd av olika teman och forskningsämnen. Vi valde även att lyfta fördelarna med att se Global Sustainable Futures som en naturlig plattform för att lyfta relevanta frågeställningar kring hållbarhet, men även inom ett brett spektra av frågor främst inom låg- och medelinkomsländer med målet att bidra till att uppfylla Agenda 2030.
Nedan fortsätter texten på engelska:
Professor Ernest Aryeetey, Secretary General of African Research Universities Alliance, (ARUA) and Professor Madelene Ostwald, Chalmers university of Technology, gave keynote speeches at the online webinar organised by Global Sustainable Futures on 25 November 2020. About sixty participants from various countries and universities took part in “Research collaboration in low- and middle- income countries – findings, lessons and ways forward for implementing Agenda 2030”.
Ernest Aryeetey gave a keynote speech addressing “the pursuit of research equity, the instruments ARUA have and their outcomes,” with examples from current intercontinental partnerships.
“Young academics have very little time to do their research, we try to open doors for them. Another important thing is to raise funds and we also have the aim to increase publication in the most respected research journals, Aryeetey said.
Furthermore, Ernest Aryeetey emphasized that there are issues Africa (and Europe) must come to terms with, such as economics, how to take advantage of new technology), inequality and health issues, such as work with efficient vaccines.
“It is time that Africa invests more in vaccine research,” Aryeetey said.
He also said that African researchers need to take the lead sometimes: “Often young African researchers wait for someone to approach them (from the north) to collaborate. We encourage them to take the initiative themselves. Don´t wait for someone to approach you!
ARUA comprises 16 African research institutions that are willing to work together by “pooling their own limited resources”, to generate a critical mass that can more effectively support research growth in the south (LMICs).
Magdalena Eriksson is the Platform Leader for Global Sustainable Futures and she opened the webinar:
“Within the network of Global Sustainable Futures we want to exchange experiences and learn from each other. We want to explore synergies where we have common interests in issues regarding attaining Agenda 2030 (between universities and in several countries), and beyond”, Magdalena Eriksson said.
GSF will support a continuing dialogue among universities in the south and between south and north.
How science can be used to transform and improve food security
The second keynote talk was delivered by Associate Professor Madelene Ostwald, affiliated researcher at Chalmers University of Technology, “Translate science into policy and practice through capacity building experiences from the AgriFoSe2030” was the title. Madelene Ostwald works with the AgriFoSe-program, which operates in many countries and focuses on how science can be used to transform and improve food security in the global south.
Madelene Ostwald described how colleagues in Kenya participated in a project to “train-the-trainers”. They were asked to invite colleagues at their home institutions and networks to be ’trained’ and together they engaged in real life processes in their field of research. The approach led to one of the take-home messages from the project. “We believe that this is a way to secure a successful exit-strategy that sustain this capacity at these hubs” Madelene Ostwald said.
Professor Gunnar Köhlin, director of Economics for Development Initiative, (EfD), School of Economics and Commercial Law at the University of Gothenburg, moderated the conference. During part of the morning, participants joined one of two parallel sessions, each featuring a series of representative examples of collaborative work – see separate article. Läs artikeln om de separata sessionerna.
Ernest also said: “Be selective”, both parties, when it comes to right persons to collaborate with. Find the right people, both in south and north” (and the exchange) to work with. Both Magdalena Eriksson and Ernest Aryeetey believe that Global Sustainable Futures can be (is) the platform, and can play an important role to “keep good contacts and relations”.
Global Sustainable Futures (GSF) - a joint collaboration platform at Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg with the overall objective to develop new science-based knowledge, education and collaborations that contribute towards attaining Agenda 2030, as well as to the needs of society beyond 2030.
The unique niche of GSF is its focus on promoting, developing and strengthening collaboration between the two universities and partners in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). For more information, see the GSF webpage. For more information about GSF, please contact Magdalena Eriksson at: magdalena.eriksson@chalmers.se
Läs mer på Global Sustainable Futures webb
