10 years of collaboration 2007-2017 · 10 ears f ollaboration 2007-2017 3 reflections by sanord...

10 YEARS OF COLLABORATION2007-2017

2 10 YEARS OF COLLABORATION 2007-2017

The Southern African-Nordic Centre (SANORD) was launched in December 2006 and officially established in January 2007 by seven founding members. SANORD is a non-profit university network committed to provide a forum to advance academic collaboration between the Nordic and the southern African regions. The SANORD network seeks to address sustainable development and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals through joint activities of research, education and other activities relevant for the member institutions. The SANORD activities are based on academic quality, academic freedom and fundamental values of democracy, human rights, equity and diversity.

310 YEARS OF COLLABORATION 2007-2017

Reflections by SANORD Chair

When SANORD was founded 10 years ago, we were se-ven universities uniting to promote cooperation in edu-cation and research between the Nordic countries and southern Africa. Now there are 45 member universities from Botswana, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and we are still growing.

In the past 10 years, we have built a strong and rele-vant network by organising conferences for researchers, university management and administrators; supporting research groups; and enabling students from southern

Africa to study at Nordic universities. These activities have been based on a shared commitment to academic quality, academic freedom and fundamental values of democracy, human rights, equity and diversity. We have learned about one another’s strengths and about areas where we can contribute to each other’s development.

Building on this solid foundation, cooperation between our members is growing continuously. We are on a dynamic, forward-looking mission to tackle regional and global challenges in higher education, research, innovation and development, and to contribute to the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. SANORD is a success story that has only just begun.

I hope you will enjoy this 10-year celebration booklet which is an attempt to capture the history and achievements of SANORD.

Thank you to those who have contributed to the success of SANORD and a warm welcome to all of you to join our next 10 years

Eva Åkesson


Karta


Lista över länder


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SANORD: The vision of North-North-South-South collaboration

The foundation of SANORD was based on a process of colla-boration between academic environments at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa and the University of Bergen (UiB) in Norway. The wider contextual background was the fight against apartheid and colonialism in South-ern Africa, and the solidarity and support to this liberation movement in the Nordic countries. The main idea was to develop and strengthen collaboration on research and higher education among independent universities in the two regions. The process towards SANORD represented an extension of the academic collaboration between UWC and UiB along two main dimensions – from individual to institutional col-

laboration, involving the leadership of the universities, and from bilateral to multilateral collaboration, emphasizing a regional perspective both in the South and in the North.

SANORD was founded as a non-profit membership organization for institutions of higher education and research, based on trust and reciprocity between the member institutions in the two regions. Quality improvements and capacity building were regarded as important for all member institutions. Furthermore, SANORD emphasized the shared fundamental values of democracy, social equity, and academic engagement.

The development of SANORD through its first 10 years has been very successful. The number of members has grown considerably in both regions, the collaboration among the member institutions has increased, and the organization has become more and more consolidated and vital. This is due to the great efforts from many enthusiasts within the member institutions and at the central office, hosted by UWC.

Recognizing that research and research-based education are the primary activities of the member institutions, the main focus of SANORD has been to stimulate and support research collaboration among member institutions from the two regions. Securing funding for such support seems to be an important challenge also in the years ahead.

There are a number of global challenges in our time, such as problems related to climate, health, poverty, and human rights. Dealing with these global issues requires development and utilization of knowledge in international contexts. Thus, international organizations like SANORD become more and more important for society. Relating SANORD’s acti-vities to UN’s Agenda 2030 for sustainable development seems to be a very meaningful way of profiling SANORD itself as a sustainable organization within a global context.

By Professor Sigmund Grønmo, SANORD chair 2009-2010


SANORD: The next steps

It is well-known that the Nordic countries supported the op-pressed South Africans who were struggling for their free-dom against Apartheid. What made the Nordic Countries different was that, when Apartheid was abolished in 1994, they understood that the South African struggle was only just beginning, as the ruins left by the Colonial period and the Apartheid ideology now had to be faced.

One example of these challenges is that the Apartheid Government’s Education budget favoured the white schools. In 1980 the education budget allotted R950 Rand for a White pupil, R250 Rand for a “Coloured” pupil and R125 Rand for a “Black” pupil. As “Blacks” made up 80% of the Nation and ‘Coloured’s’ 10%, this meant that 90% of South Africa’s pupils could not and did not receive a good

education. The consequences of these education budgets live with us. The South African basic education programme was recently ranked 140 out of 148 nations.

When I began my tenure at University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 2001, I found an organization which had been badly hurt. In the late seventies, the eighties and the beginning of the nineties, UWC stood strong as an opponent of the state. In many ways, it was in the vanguard of the struggle as we engaged with South African’s Apartheid police and army. To speak of UWC as Iconic will not be an exaggeration. But unexpectedly things began to turn against UWC. During the Apartheid era, young, black politicos flocked to UWC from other provinces. They saw it as a space from where the struggle could find expression. For example, UWC’s Council had, against the law, declared UWC an open institution for everyone. The majority of its staff had also showed their metal both in the lecture rooms and on the streets participating with their students in marches and other forms of clashing against the state. Such was the pressure on the Apartheid government internally and externally from friends across the world, especially from the Nordic Countries, that eventually the Apartheid government capitulated.

UWC was also hit with a number of blows after 1994. First was because all Universities were now open to all students a large number of students chose to go home and live closer to a University. This cut UWC’s subsidy from the state close to 50%. Secondly was that UWC had a debt to a Bank of R134 million Rand which had to be paid. Thirdly was that the new Government created a National Working Group to inspect all the Universities in South Africa in order to make changes where needed. Their report on UWC stated that it was in such a bad financial state that it should be closed and merged with another, more stable University. With great help from all our staff members and students we peacefully


contested this and the Government decided that UWC would be retained.

While all of this was happening, research, teaching and learning continued and a number of UWC staff were individually working with colleagues from Nordic Universities. As relationships developed between the individuals, the question of strong relationships with the Universities themselves was discussed. At that time UWC had one university-wide relationship which last year celebrated its 30th anniversary. And we also had a 10-year formal research engagement with the Belgium Universities. These partnerships changed the UWC environment dramatically and our self-respect improved wonderfully.

In 2006, I met Sigmund Gronmo, Rector of Bergen University, and I was delighted to know that he also was anxious to have Universities work with one another. His vision, like mine, spoke to the Universities playing an important role in our creating a world where there is a huge space for humanity. We both believed that leaders must be central to building partnerships, thus giving to the partnership the gravitas and strength required for success. We were both concerned about Africa largely because of the terrible colonial legacy. During the occupancy the inhabitants were subjected to segregation and domina-tion. The majority were excluded from political and economic participation, had limited access to high-level knowledge, limited participation in innovation, and limited investment in industrial infrastructure. We also touched upon the need for university flexibility in response to social and natural change, the difficulty of finding partners for research, and the need for sustainability as well as equality of partnerships.

Sigmund and I agreed to engage with other Universities in the North and the South who could assist with the start of the project. The outcome of this was that the Universities of Zambia, Malawi, Aarhus, Turku, Uppsala, Bergen and Western Cape held the first meeting in Cape Town South Africa in 2007. We made UWC to host the central office and we appointed a Director. We elected a Chair and a Vice-Chair, and with the help from the Norwegian Fredskorpset we obtained funding for a retired Professor who assisted us to begin the SANORD journey.

I have now read the 2016 Chairperson’s Report and feel elated with what has been achieved. In our early days we had to deal with a train of challenges and sometimes wondered if we would endure. The Report tells a story of committed members with a strong base and a growing structure and there is a strong reason to be satisfied.

My concern, as with most people, is the crumbling status of humanity and the role of the University in bringing us back to comfort. Part of this growing madness is the ignorance of the people, the ideologies that hold their core and shape their minds or perhaps their absence from sources of truth. Skepticism lies buried and the war drums are playing.

There are at least seven human development challenges that universities much champion. Governments can t́ or won t́. I say they are:


1. To move humans in developed countries to understand that they have lived beyond their means and they must prepare themselves for a humbler future.

2. To move humans in developing countries to understand that they cannot use the developed nations as points of reference for their material expectations

3. To move all humans to understand that we must develop a wise relationship with our natural environment

4. To move all humans to think of ourselves as earthlings who must work together to secure our future. This implies a global perspective.

5. To move all humans to understand that there is a direct relationship between popula-tion growth and the availability of resources

6. To move all humans to understand that there is a direct relationship between ow-nership, competence and hard work on the one hand and development on the other

7. To move all humans to understand that safety lies in knowledge, partnerships, sharing and our ability to change.

There is a poem called Caravel which is germane to our profession and it will pose you a hundred questions:

There was an Indian, who had known no change, Who strayed content upon a sunlit beach Gathering shells. He heard a sudden strange Commingled noise: looked up; and gasped for speech. For in the bay, where nothing was before, Moved on the sea, by magic, huge canoes, With bellying cloths on poles, and not one oar.

And fluttering coloured signs and clambering crews. And he, in fear, this naked man alone, His fallen hands forgetting all their shells, His lips gone pale, knelt low behind a stone, And stared, and saw, and did not understand, Columbus’s doom-burdened caravels Slant to the shore, and all her seamen land.

If SANORD can achieve its goals, the very opposite of that of Columbus, it would be a model for the world. Let’s go modelling

By Professor Brian O’Connell, SANORD chair 2007-2008, 2011-2012


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SANORD Annual Conference

2019 – University of Botswana (UB) Botswana

2018 – University of Jyväskylä (JYV) Finland

2017 – National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Zimbabwe

2016 – Uppsala University (UU) Sweden

2015 – Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) Namibia

2014 – Karlstad University (KAU) Sweden

2013 – University of Malawi (UNIMA) Malawi

2012 – Aarhus University (AU) Denmark

2011 – University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) South Africa

2010 – University of Johannesburg (UJ) South Africa

2009 – Rhodes University (RU) South Africa

2008 – University of the Western Cape (UWC) South Africa

2007 – University of the Western Cape (UWC) South Africa

SANORD has arranged annual meetings in cooperation with one of the member university as the local organizing host. The first conference was held at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, on December 6-8 2007. Participants has been leadership, administrators, researchers and PhD-students of primarily member institutions. The number of delegates has been from 50 to 170.

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Themes for the annual conferences

2007The conference theme was Higher Educa-tion, Research and Development: Shifting Challenges and Opportunities.

2008Innovation and development

2009Inclusion & Exclusion in Higher Educa-tion

2010Sustaining Higher Education through Southern African-Nordic Institutional Partnerships.

2011Theme: Deepening Collaboration between Southern African and Nordic Higher Education for Shared Solutions to Research Capacity Development.

2012Strengthening the Role of Universities as Hubs of Development through the South-ern African-Nordic University Network

2013Contributions of Universities towards Attaining MDGs

2014The Sustainable Future, Information Technology and Welfare Development

2015Theme: What is the Role of Higher Education Institutions and North - South Collaboration in Shaping the UN Deve-lopment Agenda Post-2015?

2016Beyond New Public Management: Exploring New Paradigms of Governance and Public Service Provisioning

2017The Role of Universities in Research & Technology - Transfer to Improve Livelihoods in Southern Africa


Conference delegate support

To allow participation in the annual SANORD conference by delegates from all SANORD member universities, SANORD started in 2012 to award confe-rence delegate support. The support covers partial costs for travel, lodging and conference fee. From 2012 till 2017, SANORD has awarded between 13 and 24 conference delegate support grants to individual conference participants per conference, which is in total 91 grants of a total sum of 1,4 million Rand. The proportion of women recipients has been between 26 % and 42 %.

Conference Delegates supported

% female Budget (ZAR)

2012 Aarhus University, Denmark 13 30 200 000

2013 University of Malawi, Malawi 27 30 300 000

2014 Karlstad University, Sweden 20 30 350 000

2015 Namibia University of Science and Technology, Namibia

19 26 192 691

2016 Uppsala University, Sweden 24 42 332 000

2017 National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe

18 33 276 600

Total 121 1 650 691


– I have participated in several SANORD conferences from the start of the network back in 2007 and I was also instrumental in assisting my university to join SANORD, says Paul Nleya, an Associate Professor at the University of Botswana, and the membership has had a positive effect on my institution as well as the entire region. – The conference delegate support has been very valuable in enabling me to travel and be a part of it all. I find it very valuable to attend the conferences because it means:• Exposure to meet other scholars• Acquisition of new knowledge• Improvement of presentation skills, and• An opportunity to sell and contribute with new

ideas.

Paul Nleya – BotswanaRecipient of the SANORD conference delegate support

Having been brought up and worked in African countries, Aníta Hannesdóttir is not a stranger to the African continent. Today, Aníta works as a project manager in the International Office at the University of Iceland. She attended the SANORD conference in Namibia in 2015 as the first Icelandic delegate. Interest in the SANORD network and collaborations between African universities and the University of Iceland are slowly, but steadily increasing at the University of Iceland.– Right now, Aníta Hannesdóttir explains, we have Erasmus+ ICM agreements with: • Stellenbosch University (valid 2017-2021),• Makerere University (valid 2016-2021), and • The University of the Western Cape.

Aníta Hannesdóttir – Iceland Recipient of the SANORD conference delegate support


The theme group support enabled Carmen Christian, a PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University and a lecturer at the University of the Western Cape, to meet up with her network group for a workshop in Lund, Sweden.– Being able to meet and work with my colleagues from Lund, Stellenbosch and Uppsala Universities consolidated the group and our work together, Ms Christian explains. Planning and developing the workshop also provided me with the opportunity to develop my leadership skills.Carmen Christian will now extend her network to include more universities in southern Africa to develop the south-south collaboration. She also plans to incorporate community engagement into her research agenda.

Carmen Christian – South AfricaRecipient of the SANORD theme group support

Since 23 September 2017, Rodney Likaku is living and studying in Sweden and working towards his PhD degree at Uppsala University.– I was recommended by Mr Leolyn Jackson for the Brian O’Connell Scholarship and it enabled me to complete my Master’s thesis under the co-supervision of Professor Jean Hudson, a renowned linguist working at Malmö University in Sweden, Rodney Likaku from the University of Malawi explains and continues,– While working on my Master’s thesis in Sweden, a doctoral position opened up at Uppsala University, I applied and got accepted to a four-year PhD programme funded by the English Department.

Rodney J Likaku – MalawiRecipient of the Brian O’Connell Scholarship


Theme groups/ Research groups

SANORD makes competitive grants available to so-called theme group projects. The purpose is to promote north-south multilateral networking and cooperation. Funding is typically awarded to projects for organizing seminars, conferences and other activities.

Since 2008, SANORD has funded 33 theme groups with grants of 50,000 Rand each. Grants have been used for travel, accommodation and logistical expenses for the selected theme groups. Participants have been researchers, PhD and Master students.

SANORD has funded theme groups with southern project partners in Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, northern partners in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Institutions that has participated most frequently are University of Cape Town (UCT), University of Western Cape (UWC), University of Bergen (UiB) and Uppsala University (UU).

Several organisations and institutions, that are not members of SANORD, have been reported to benefit from the theme group projects. Examples are Zambia Ministry of Education, CSIR, Enact International, CORC, LEAP, CALS, St Nicholas Diocesan, The Education Policy Consortium and Africa Centre for Climate and Earth System Science (ACCESS). Universities and colleges such as Baobab College, Yale University, University of Queensland and Eduardo Mondale University have also been reported to benefit.

Many collaborative projects have been born out of the research projects, and several groups who came together due to the funding from SANORD are still active and publish scientific articles and books together.

Visiting academics and researchers from countries outside the Nordic or Southern African regions have shown interest in various topics under the work of different theme groups. Also countries such as: Australia, Guatemala, Unites States of America to name a few have been represented by academics who have presented papers at theme group seminars or conferences.


Brian O'Connell scholarshipsThe Brian O'Connell Scholarship Programme awards partial scholarships to Master's students. The scholarship opportunity is made available for students from Southern African member institutions to study from three to five months in a Nordic member institution. The aim of the exchange is to promote student mobility, internationalisation and support activities which will support the completion of the students' Master's degrees and improve the future careers of the scholarship holder.

SANORD has completed three competitive calls for the Brian O´Connell scholarship since 2014. In total 12 students from Southern Africa have been sponsored, of which 4 have been women and 8 men.

Sending institution

Nelson Mandela Metropole UniversityUniversity of Cape TownUniversity of JohannesburgUniversity of Kwa Zulu-NatalUniversity of MalawiUniversity of NamibiaUniversity of PretoriaUniversity of the Western CapeUniversity of ZimbabweVaal University of Technology

Receiving institution

Bergen University CollegeHedmark University of Applied SciencesLund UniversityMalmö UniversityUniversity of Eastern FinlandUniversity of LinköpingUniversity of TurkuUppsala University


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SANORD PublicationsAbstracts presented at the SANORD conferences have been compiled into hard copies or electronic publications. SANORD has produced the following four publications:

• Halvorsen, Tor and Peter Vale (Eds.). (2012). One world, many knowledges. Regional experiences and cross regional links in higher education”. Cape Town: SANORD and African Minds.

• Seeberg, Jens (Eds.). (2013). Strengthening the role of Universities as Hubs of Development. E-publication from Aarhus conference papers.

• Halvorsen, Tor, Hilde Ibsen and Vyvienne RP M´Kumbzi (Eds.). (2015). Knowledge for a sustainable world. Cape Town: African Minds and SANORD.

• Halvorsen, Tor, Hilde Ibsen, Henri-Court Evans, Sharon Penderis (Eds.). (2017). Knowledge for Justice. Critical studies for southern African – Nordic research partnerships. Cape Town: African Minds and SANORD.

SANORD Interns at SCO (2013 – present)Since 2013 The SANORD Central Office, located at the University of Western Cape, has offered internship opportunities to students from Nordic institutions. The interns are supporting the office with communication channels such as web portal, newsletter, social media channels and other administrative tasks as organising events. Two internships are available each calendar year. Starting in 2013, 7 interns have been hosted.


Chairs2017 – 2018 Eva Åkesson, Uppsala University2015 – 2016 John Saka, University of Malawi2013 – 12014 Astrid Andresen, University of Bergen Anne Christine Johannesson, University of Bergen2011 – 2012 Brian O´Connell, University of Western Cape2009 – 2010 Sigmund Grønmo, University Bergen2007 – 2008 Brian O´Connell, University of Western Cape

Directors2006 – 2007 Kjetil Flatin2007 – 2017 Leolyn Jackson2017 – Umesh Bawa

SANORD Chairs and Directors


SANORD Strategy 2022

VisionThe Southern African Nordic Centre (SANORD) is a well-established and relevant network with accountable impact on global sustainable development through mutual partnership and academic exchange between higher education institutions in the Southern African and Nordic regions.

MissionThe Southern African Nordic Centre (SANORD) is a non-profit university network committed to provide a forum to advance academic collaboration between the Nordic and the southern African regions. The SANORD network seeks to address sustainable development and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals through joint activities of research, education and other ac-tivities relevant for the member institutions. The SANORD activities are based on academic quality, academic freedom and fundamental values of democracy, human rights, equity and diversity.

Main Goals

• Goal 1: Provide a forum for members and other partners• Goal 2: Promote collaboration between southern African and Nordic

higher education institutions• Goal 3: Address regional and global challenges of research, innovation and

development• Goal 4: Promote academic quality, academic freedom and joint values


SANORD Central Office

SANORD would like to thank University of the Western Cape for hosting and supporting the SANORD Central Office (SCO).

The SCO is responsible for liaising with members, assisting with the organiza-tion of academic events, collecting and sharing information on institutions, projects and research in the regions, developing the portal, and undertaking other work required by the Board.

A university network committed to provide a fo-rum to advance academic collaboration between the Nordic and the southern African regions. Ac-tivities are based on academic quality, academic freedom and fundamental values of democracy, human rights, equity and diversity.

ContactSANORD Central Office

University of the Western CapePrivate Bag x17Bellville 7535South Africa

www.sanord.net

SANORD AdministratorMaureen Davis

[email protected]+27 (0)21 959 3802+27 (0)82 202 3271

10 years of collaboration 2007-2017 · 10 ears f ollaboration 2007-2017 3 reflections by sanord...

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