The Africa Charter Round Table

The view that international cooperation is critical to achieving progress in research has become commonplace in science policy discourse. There is a growing consensus — rightly so — that cross-border cooperation should not be limited to a narrow circle of nations in the Global North, but that more scientists and stakeholders from underrepresented regions should also be included in these collaborations. This raises the question of how participation can be improved without simply reproducing global inequalities. The global academic landscape is still characterized by deep rifts, with the financial resources for research in the Global North incomparably more robust than those available to the Global South. In addition, there is still a prevalent imbalance in the division of labour in collaborative research projects: prestigious, reputation-enhancing activities such as theory-building frequently take place in the Global North, while the Global South is assigned tacitly ‘simple’ tasks such as data collection. Furthermore, in times of rising authoritarianism and increasing geopolitical tension, politics often stands in the way of international cooperation.

Global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and migration clearly show that global research cooperation is required now more than ever. But how should this be organized? The conference ‘Negotiating Scientific Cooperation in an Unequal World’ will consider important dimensions of this question, with experts drawn from around the world. The conference will end with the Berlin University Alliance officially signing the Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations.

The event will be accompanied by a photography exhibition from Adenike A. Akinsemolu (2024 Alexander von Humboldt Residency Programme Fellow)

The Women of Aiyetoro: Resilience in the Face of Climate Change

A visual exploration of the gendered dimensions of climate change and the historical marginalization of indigenous knowledge systems, contributing to a more equitable and inclusive global discourse.