From 13-15 September over 140 representatives from 18 countries and 70 institutions gathered at ÖAW in Vienna for the 3rd Africa-UniNet General Assembly.

It was the second gathering of the network in Vienna, after it was initiated in 2019 by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Research (BMBWF), Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD), and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU). Never before have so many representatives of African research institutions met with Austrian scientists to showcase their collaborative projects and deepen scientific partnerships between Austria and African countries.

The conference started with the opening speech at the historical festive hall of the Austrian Academy of Sciences ÖAW by the Africa-UniNet president Hubert Hasenauer who thanked the participants who travelled from far despite many obstacles, as well as the host Heinz Fassmann, who during his time as federal minister for Education, Science, and Research initiated the network. Vice president Nzula Kitaka, voiced her pleasure to be back in the “birth city of Africa-UniNet” which “proofed to be an ideal network providing a unique opportunity to share ideas and widen perspectives in scientific cooperation, building capacities in higher education and research institutions, creating new networks, especially through Africa-UniNet funded projects.” As she mentioned the conference provided an opportunity to be able to witness the achievement and outcomes of this collaborative research across disciplines.

The president of the hosting institution, Heinz Fassmann from the Austrian Academy of Sciences recalled his motivation for initiating the network in order to strive for a stronger partnership with Africa. However, he emphasized that it “should be a partnership of equals without imperial or colonial attitude”. He voiced his pleasure to see that this partnership is growing and will be an important part of the Austrian Federal Government’s “Africa Strategy”, which is currently been drafted, and in which Science and Research is one main pillar. The representative of the BMBWF, Heribert Buchbauer in his welcome remarks emphasized the enormous potential in science and research in African nations and the “young talents and bright minds eager to cooperate internationally”. The BMBWF until now has supported 61 projects and about 20 new projects will follow every year. The “vision is that these small projects will lead to long term partnerships and follow-up proposals in bigger national an international funding schemes, in particular Horizon Europe”.

Finally, managing director of OeAD, Jacob Calice, mentioned in his welcome speech that the conference shows that the network is “entering a new phase in its evolution”, since there is a “much stronger focus on the results of the projects that have been conducted”. On another level it reflects that the network is working and that collaborations are deepened. The next step is to expand the horizons to increasing funding opportunities beyond the network at the European level. He also thanked the team of OeAD for making the conference possible, and their exceptional organizational efforts.

One of the main themes of the conference was addressed in the opening keynote speeches by Joel Onyango from the African Center for Technology Studies in Kenia and Gabriele Slezak from University of Vienna/ÖFSE on Decolonizing Knowledge Systems in Scientific Cooperation. In their talk they emphasized decoloniality and anti-racism research and delved into the historical legacies that have shaped academic hierarchies, influencing power dynamics and knowledge production. Additionally, they addressed the impact of racism in academic collaborations, leading to unequal resource distribution and marginalization of knowledge e.g., contributions from the Global South. Drawing upon examples from academic partnerships, they illustrated the transformative potential of self-awareness and reflexivity in challenging biases, fostering inclusivity, and promoting a more equitable approach to cooperation.

Taking a different perspective on this topic in his keynote speech, Africa-UniNet board member Belachew Gebrewold focused “on the decolonization of the African mind”. In his speech he argued that African research is often too hierarchical, too elitist, and detached from the daily problems of the African population. He pleaded for African research to emancipate itself from African political elites and to keep in mind the professional ethics. African research and science have to promote the transformation of African society socially, politically, economically, and technologically. The most important and challenging task of African science and research is to break the scapegoating narrative that the West is responsible for Africa’s ills. The keynotes were followed by a lively and controversial debate moderated by the excellent moderator Stella Asiimwe, from Weltmuseum Wien.

In the afternoon of the first day 20 of the currently 61 Africa-UniNet projects were presented at a scientific conference at four thematic panels: 1. Education, Art and Knowledge Production, 2. Agricultural Research and Food Security, 3. Water, Environmental Research and Conservation, 4. Public Health and Community Development.

The successful completion of the first day was finally celebrated at a festive reception at the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF), where participants were welcomed by Federal Minister for Education, Science and Research Martin Polaschek. In his speech, he emphasized again the important role of Africa-UniNet in the national Africa-Strategy: “In this context, strengthening and further developing collaboration with African countries is a major strategic priority of the Austrian Federal Government and for my Ministry in particular”. In addition, he announced the new call for project proposals which opened on 1 September. 

The second day of the conference started with the keynote speech by Peggy Oti-Boateng, Executive Director of the African Academy of Sciences who argued that the scientific landscape on the African continent has greatly advanced in the last few decades. There has been an increase in institutions conducting a diverse array of much-needed scientific research. This, coupled with increased talent and growth in African scientific expertise, has resulted in a very good local innovations landscape for the continents and advance development. The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) since 1985 with its partners have been central to this growth, transforming lives in Africa through Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI). However, she emphasized that there is a need for more commitments and investments not just to sustain the gains made but also to help bring Africa closer to the rest of the world in terms of capacities for research and innovation.

The keynote was followed by a panel discussion which aimed to reflect on the interconnection between the academic world and the social reality in African countries. By discussing the introductory question “Is academia an extension of privilege?” posed by the moderator Stella Asiimwe (Weltmuseum Wien), the panelists Fatima‐Zohra Iflahen (Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco), Abdulkarim Sabo Mohammed (Federal University Dutse, Nigeria), Carol Nonkwelo (University of Pretoria, South Africa), Retselisitsoe Thamae (National University of Lesotho) and Martin Woller (ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA) brought a wide variety of perspectives to the stage and showed ways in which the social relevance of universities in African contexts can be increased.

In the afternoon participants of the conference could choose between two workshops. In their workshop on: “Expanding the Horizon: Funding Opportunities beyond Africa-UniNet”, Carol Nonkwelo from University of Pretoria and Peter Mayr from Paris Lodron University of Salzburg provided information on funding opportunities for higher education and research beyond Africa-UniNet. Erasmus+ and its increased funding budget for Sub-Saharan-Africa until 2027, as well as the Joint African Union – European Union Agenda were highlighted in detail. Peter Mayr also presented Austria’s national funding programmes: from the Ernst Mach scholarship to the APPEAR programme, several options and current open calls were mentioned.

In the parallel workshop “How to Keep the Elephant on the Path: Managing Project Expectations” by Meggy Kantert and Christian Anieke from Godfrey Okoye University participants reflected on their own explicit and implicit project expectations, which are influenced by culture as well as expected results, and may change over time. This interactive exercise was an eye-opener for many participants as it became clear that most expectations are not openly stated. Meggy Kantert gave participants concrete guidance on how to better deal with these challenges in the future. The core of the model is to bring expectations and reality together and to proactively discuss and continuously adjust expectations in an open dialogue. Key to this is making expectations explicit and learn what you could do differently in the future to build up productive partnerships. At the end of the workshop, the participants were given a small elephant to remind them in their daily lives of the importance of expectation management for the success of a project.

During the actual General Assembly, which was attended by official representatives of Africa-UniNet member institutions, two new member institutions were introduced and welcomed to the network. During the General Assembly it was decided that in the future the General Assembly will meet in person every second year. In the year between the meetings, a "summer school" (1-2 weeks) in Africa, with participation of institutions from countries in Africa and Austria, could be organized. The local member institutions will organize the meeting with financial support of Africa-UniNet.

The official conference programme was concluded with a reception by the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA) at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. In the impressive building of the Expositur Vordere Zollamstrasse participants of the conference were warmly welcomed by the Rector of the “Angewandte” Gerald Bast as well as the representative of the BMEIA, ambassador Franziska Honsowitz. In the festive hall participants could explore an exhibition by the 'Angewandte' of their artistic and architectonic collaborations in different African countries.

Before the participants headed home, on Friday 15 September about 60 conference participants joined an excursion to Kaiserbrunn in lower Austria about 100 km from Vienna. There a guide showed the group the “Emperor’s Well” from where part of the drinking water of the city of Vienna comes from. Celebrating 150 years of existence this year, the First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline was opened on 24 October 1873 and now has total length of 150 km, delivering around 50% of Vienna´s water. The water flows solely by gravity and takes around 24 hours to reach the city.

On the way back to Vienna the group stopped in Laxenburg and visited the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), which is an Africa-UniNet member organisation. IIASA is an international research institution dedicated to the advancement of systems analysis and the application of its research techniques to discover policy measures aimed at diminishing human impacts, bolstering the adaptability of natural and socioeconomic systems, and helping in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Albert van Jaarsveld, Director General of IIASA, gave a presentation of the Institute and its history.

The feedback of the participants was overwhelmingly positive, and they appreciated the excellent organization and exciting program: “the venue is very impressive and the conversations very lively!”; “I am excited to learn from other researchers and leaders that are here at the conference”; “I enjoyed the opportunity to meet scholars from all over the world”; “I am very surprised how many people have come, it looks like a very diverse and interesting meeting.”

This article has been sourced from africaUninet