What role can higher education play in development and sustainability across Africa?
This was the question explored in the Our Shared Future: Developing Our Joint Pathway for Impactful Partnerships in Africa, organised by the Centre for Sustainable Development at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow (UK) on 9-10 October 2024.
Philile Mbatha, Deputy Director of One Ocean Hub, presented on the innovative approaches to international partnerships piloted by the Hub. Marly Muudeni Samuel, Hub PhD candidate at the Glasgow School of Art, gave insights into her experience of working with Hub approaches in Namibia, drawing on her research using augmented reality to enhance understanding about ocean knowledge and heritage of coastal communities.
In her keynote address to the conference, Joyce Msuya, Acting UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, said: “Strathclyde University’s One Ocean Hub is a shining example of exactly the kind of partnership that we need more of.
The Hub brings together coastal people, national universities, civil society, researchers, decision-makers and international organisations in its mission to find just and sustainable ways to address the catastrophic changes taking place in the world’s oceans.
This work has opened up spaces for new voices. It has brought marginalised forms of knowledge to the centre of the discussion, opening up fresh perspectives and new solutions, and it has allowed the hub to advance the world’s understanding of local and customary knowledge in ways that have real power to transform the social and environmental injustices that harm the marine world.”
She went on to specify: “I think academic institutions can do more to support innovative approaches in sustainability science – specifically ones that emphasise cross-disciplinary partnerships. This is exactly what Strathclyde’s One Ocean Hub does. It’s an approach that requires committing more resources to support scientific and academic institutions in the Global South. And it is essential if we want to empower the next generation of African leaders and changemakers who can take on the immense challenges facing the continent.”
As part of the Hub-led session on impact and equitable partnerships, we also screened the brand-new short film Waves of Impact, allowing audience members to hear directly from Hub researchers participating in the One Ocean Hub closing conference in South Africa in May 2024.
Hub film ‘Waves of Impact’ can be viewed online here >>
Related SDGs:
