Rhodes hosts Second International SANORD Conference

The second international conference of the Southern African-Nordic Centre (SANORD) will be hosted by Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa from 7 to 9 December 2009.

SANORD is a non-profit, membership organisation of institutions of higher education and research. More specifically, it is committed to advancing strategic, multilateral academic collaboration between institutions in the Nordic and the Southern African regions, as they seek to address new local and global challenges of innovation and development. Its activities are based on shared fundamental values of democracy, social equity, and academic engagement, and on the deep relationships of trust built up between the regions over many years.

The theme of this year’s conference is: "Inclusion and Exclusion in Higher Education" and will explore how higher education reflects, extends or transcends inequalities of gender, race, class, health and culture. Questions include: What are the legacies of inclusion and exclusion in the SADC and Nordic regions, what policies and measures did governments, educational institutions or pressure groups adopt to transcend them and with what effects? How are policies changing today as societies are affected by processes of democratization, cultural integration, climate change or economic crisis?

With just under 100 delegates from Southern Africa and the balance from the Nordic countries making up about 131 delegates in total, the conference will interrogate diverse challenges and experiences in both regions in order to develop a comparative perspective.

Delegates attending the conference will address the following sub-themes:

• Considering human rights
• Addressing gender
• Creating a more inclusive society
• Responding to social issues and contemporary crises
• Relating to other voices and actors
• Participating in a globalised world
• Information and communication technologies

Keynote speakers include:

• Prof Stephen Simukanga, Vice Chancellor, University of Zambia
• Dr Saleem Badat, Vice Chancellor, Rhodes University
• Prof Risto Rinne, Professor, University of Turku
• Prof Vigdis Broch-Due, Professor, University of Bergen
• Prof Kerstin Sahlin, Professor and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Uppsala University, Sweden

This second SANORD conference is intended to further strengthen and expand Nordic-Southern African partner-driven cooperation which is aimed at generating new knowledge, building human resources and stimulating development. Donors whose financial support have made the conference possible include:

• Danish Development Research Network (DDRN)
• The Swedish Government through its development agency (Sida) and the Embassy in Pretoria
• The Research Council of Norway (RCN)
• The Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID)
• The Network for the Coordination and Advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa-EU Science & Technology Cooperation (CAAST-Net).

For more information visit www.ru.ac.za/conference/SANORD

About SANORD

Dynamic multilateral cooperation between research institutions is increasingly the norm for intellectual and practical reasons. Aiming to strengthen North – South relationships in this regard, SANORD is a partnership of 23 research-led higher education institutions from Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. 

The following goals form the cornerstone of the SANORD centre:

• To bring together the leadership of Nordic and Southern African institutions of higher education and research for discussion, planning and joint endeavours.
• To provide opportunities for academics to meet around issues relevant to the mission.
• To promote and assist with the development of strategic cooperation projects.
• To offer relevant resources and information services, including virtual and physical meeting places, to facilitate and stimulate cooperation.
• To promote cultural exchanges that strengthen academic life.
• To build relevant relationships with the donor community, commerce, industry and the media.

Opportunities for institutions

SANORD provides a forum for collaboration in both research and innovative sharing of interdisciplinary expertise between the two regions. Participating SANORD universities have the opportunity to identify similar emerging research interests, and also areas where sharing of resources, programmes and faculty expertise strengthens the overall capacity of each university. By fostering and encouraging collaboration between member institutions, SANORD brings together the research experience and expertise necessary to deal with the big issues currently facing our societies, governments, corporations and education.

Opportunities for staff and graduate students

SANORD aims to help build and develop research communities within the member institutions of the two regions, where possible including other networks like governments and the corporate sector. In collaboration with the member institutions the SANORD Central Office is also developing an infrastructure that will give academics and graduate students access to valuable information about available staff exchange programmes, institutional scholarships, various Master’s and PhD programs, cultural exchange programs, summer or winter schools at member institutions and current networks on specific research focus areas.