The SSH and the global and local challenges of sustainable development: New avenues for collaborative research, teaching and learning with Africa
Background
- Academic knowledge about Africa is mainly produced from an external perspective based on theoretical and conceptual frameworks developed in the Global North. Taking this into account, it is questionable whether the knowledge that the social sciences and humanities (SSH) produce on Africa adequately corresponds to the lived reality on the continent.
- Efficient and sustainable decision-making should be based on a solid understanding of the relevant social, political, economic and cultural conditions. Such an understanding requires knowledge produced by research that incorporates not only concepts and methods of various disciplines but also the perspectives and requirements of stakeholders from different sectors.
- The ability to think and act in an entangled world in which problems are both local and global is a core skill for researchers as well as decision-makers in the 21st century. The possibilities to acquire such skills, however, are unequal for young scholars in the South and the North.
Objectives
From different disciplinary and local perspectives, research and training will focus on urgent issues on the agenda of developing countries in the fields of land/agriculture, youth/education and governance. Scholars and students from the South and the North jointly engage with commonalities and differences of local challenges in different parts of the world. In order to produce outcomes with the potential to make a profound contribution to socio-economic development and the well-being of societies, partners will i) engage in a collaborative, inclusive and transdisciplinary process in order to develop adequate research questions and design; ii) develop forms of joint teaching based on a blended learning approach; iii) train advanced MA students and PhD students in Switzerland and the partner countries as multipliers for knowledge production and decision-making in academia, industry, government and civil society; iv) disseminate knowledge in adequate forms for decision-makers and stakeholders in Switzerland and the partner countries.
Expected benefits
In partner countries:
- Policy-relevant research on urgent issues (land/agriculture; youth/education; governance) that contribute to socio-economic development
- Analytical frameworks that allow for a better understanding of socio-economic change and the impact of policy-interventions
- Access to joint training formats and collaborative platforms that enable exchange between institutions, scholars and students in the South and North
- A contribution to the training of a generation of young scholars and professionals in government, industry and civil society that is able to apply their skills and knowledge to societal challenges in North and South
- Platforms and tools for the dissemination of relevant knowledge to inform decision-makers and stakeholder in various policy fields (land policy/reform, youth and education, semi-urban areas, plurilingual practice)
In Switzerland:
- Policy-relevant research on urgent issues (land/agriculture; youth/education; governance) that supports Swiss engagement in Africa in the fields of foreign policy, development cooperation and business
- Analytical frameworks that allow for a better understanding of socio-economic change and the impact of policy-interventions
- A contribution to the training of a generation of young scholars and professionals in government, industry and civil society that is able to apply their skills and knowledge to societal challenges in North and South
- Platforms and tools for the dissemination of relevant knowledge to inform decision-makers in development cooperation in various fields (land policy/reform, youth and education, semi-urban areas, plurilingual practice)
Contact information
Pascal Schmid, , phone: +41 (0)61 207 34 82
![The SSH and the global and local challenges of sustainable development The SSH and the global and local challenges of sustainable development](http://portal-cdn.scnat.ch/asset/ac106bb5-9758-5430-957c-2bfe799d0a11/P45.png?b=67595efe-1858-5be0-872a-f85f5fd5fa2c&v=88f25fca-43a4-5d70-9e36-4ba807760851_100&s=O8oVOV_CBiMOY91s5qSsgvLAYJm7n1O4C13FbtZ3km-2cHtcJ0uK_nOgOEeY_wVFBQBclaNXBaEA7IHskOAixIKp634UZYcFbZvuN4wQfWqw0eB0Ae6qxoOQjYZwWz31EJ3DQ3Gckhb1ALsWohzValQ0BZAEbitG1eW5gKIjK80&t=b1085d3c-fb5f-446e-ae88-ed9d76537838&sc=2)