Conference “Applied Sciences as drivers for regional innovation ecosystems in Africa"

05-09-2023

 

Building upon previous Africa related events and a continuous engagement in fostering stronger Europe-Africa cooperation, DAAD Brussels is organising this conference in partnership with a network of German Universities of Applied Sciences strongly engaged in Africa.  It seeks to explore and promote the benefits of applied sciences as drivers for regional innovation in Africa.

Against the background of the Sustainable Development Goals, the EU-AU Innovation Agenda, the Global Gateway Strategy and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the need for a stronger focus on applied sciences is paramount. Furthermore, the current state of the world with its geopolitical tensions, food security challenges and the consequences of climate change illustrate the need for a closer cooperation between Europe and Africa.

The conference is structured in three parts. A public conference on Day 1 targeting practitioners and policy experts that will set the scene and examine the various dimensions of the topic. On Day 2, (higher) education cooperation projects that successfully applied to a call for participation will discuss and share practices in policy workshops clustered around four thematic tracks: (Renewable) Energy and Green Transition; Agriculture and Food Security; (Public) Health; IT/Technology and Innovation. Finally, on Day 3 a policy dialogue (by invitation only) will analyse and discuss the outcomes of the event and discuss pathways to strengthen the role of applied sciences in the future of Europe-Africa collaboration.

 

This call for participation addresses current or recently concluded (higher) education projects in Europe-Africa cooperation with a strong focus on the applied sciences and/or innovation. Given that the policy workshops will be clustered around the following themes, the proposed projects should contribute to discussions on:

  • (Renewable) Energy: aiming at improving access to secure, affordable and sustainable energy in Africa
  • Agriculture and Food Security: aiming at strengthening African food safety systems and combating malnutrition
  • (Public) Health: aiming at a holistic health approach that also takes framework conditions such as social security systems into account
  • IT/Technology and Innovation aiming at accelerating digital transformation and strengthen technology and innovation capability for long-term competitiveness and socioeconomic development in Africa. Projects should be presented by a partner from Africa or in an EU-Africa tandem.

The call is open until 31 May 2023.

 

More information

Contact person: Michael Hörig (hoerig@daad.de)