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Strategic research partnerships and collaborations between universities in Africa and the Global North are growing rapidly. Knowledge Across Borders critically reflects on how African universities and universities in the Global North conceptualize, operationalize, and navigate the imperatives of equality, equity and mutual benefit.
Bringing African universities to the fore and drawing on experience of existing partnerships in over 20 research networks, 50 countries, over 50 universities and 4 continents, this is the first book focused on critical reflections of knowledge networks created and co-created by African universities with universities in the Global North. Addressing how partnerships are often forged in what are asymmetrical contexts and institutions – with imbalances in levels of institutional development, experience in research, academic reputation and unequal resources – chapters focus on how reciprocity can be grounded in the research mission of knowledge networks. Rather than focusing on one sided flows from the Global North to the Global South of staff and students, contributors critically examine strategic and intentional leadership, management and operationalization, power, voice, agency, co-creation and societal impact in the dynamics of research partnering and collaborating in an unequal world, making the argument that if reciprocity in the relationships is not addressed it will undermine principled and ethical research that engenders transformative change in Africa and globally.
This is a rich resource relevant to policy makers, research funding agencies and foundations, university leadership in Africa/Global South and the Global North, research leaders, researchers, senior management and administrators in universities, post graduate students and practitioners of sustainable development in civil society.
This book that reflects on university partnerships between the global North and the global South offers a timely and much-needed strategic engagement in the ongoing conversations based on case studies and experiences of African universities involved in those partnerships. Moving beyond rhetoric, it critically examines the principles of equity, reciprocity, mutual respect, and shared knowledge production that are essential for meaningful collaboration in higher education. At a moment when global academic relationships are increasingly scrutinized for reproducing historical inequalities, this volume challenges institutions and scholars to reimagine partnerships in ways that value local knowledge, strengthen collective capacity, and promote genuine co-creation.
What makes this book especially important is its highlights of the importance of agency for African universities to avoid historical practices of resource transfer that leads to dependency or symbolic inclusion where African scholars are secondary partners. The case studies demonstrate that partnerships can be reconfigured to become transformative spaces for mutual learning, intellectual solidarity, and institutional renewal. The contributors provide nuanced insights, practical examples, and critical reflections that will resonate with scholars, university leaders, policymakers, and practitioners committed to more just and sustainable forms of global engagement. The book is a significant contribution to the body of knowledge on higher education, internationalization, and global development.
— Teboho Moja is an Emerita Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Administration, Leadership and Technology at New York University
Knowledge Across Borders is a thoughtful and timely intervention in contemporary debates on international research collaboration and global knowledge production. Asking how partnerships between African universities and institutions in the Global North might be reconfigured towards more equitable, co-creative and transformative forms of engagement, this volume brings together rich institutional experience, critical reflection and scholarly insight. The diverse contributors, including scholars, policymakers and current and former senior university leaders directly involved in international partnerships, move beyond rhetoric to illuminate both the structural inequalities and the practical possibilities shaping global research collaboration today. This is an important and compelling volume for scholars, institutional leaders and policymakers committed to advancing more just and mutually beneficial forms of engagement.
— Gerald Wangenge Ouma, Professor of Higher Education and Senior Director: Institutional Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, University of Pretoria
Tawana Kupe is former Vice Chancellor of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where he pursued strategic partnerships and collaborations for sustainability and impact with universities within Africa, the United Kingdom, the US, Europe, Australia, Asia, South America and New Zealand.
Foreword; Funmi Olonisakin
Chapter 1. Introduction; Tawana Kupe
Chapter 2. The African Global University Project (AGUP) at the University of Pretoria: Insights and Lessons from the University’s Internationalisation and Global Engagement Strategy; Farai Kapfudzaruwa and Tawana Kupe
Chapter 3. Perspectives on Equal and Equitable Research and Innovation Partnerships: Selected Case Studies from the Global South; Sibusiso Moyo
Chapter 4. From Inclusion to Impact: Advancing Equitable Collaborations through the Alliance for African Partnership; Titus Awokuse and Steven D. Hanson
Chapter 5. Advancing Equitable and Transformative Partnerships with African Institutions: Lessons and Opportunities from the Alliance for African Partnership (AAP); José Jackson, Farai Kapfudzaruwa, and Amy Jamison
Chapter 6. Building Equitable Partnerships through the Africa–Europe Clusters of Research Excellence; Ernest Aryeetey and Emmanuel Adu-Danso
Chapter 7. From Policy to Implementation: The Africa–Europe Clusters of Research Excellence from a European Perspective; Jan Palmowski
Chapter 8. Research and Education in Partnership: Challenges to Shape the World We Need; Patrick Caron
Chapter 9. Pipeline to Partnership: Towards a Model for North-South Early-Career Research Collaboration; Kyle Farmbry, Luzaan Afrika, and Ronél Koch
Chapter 10. Conclusion; Tawana Kupe