Partnership dialogues between African and Finnish higher education institutions
Published on 14 February, 2022 by UniPID
Written by: Meeri Tiensuu and Hanna Posti-Ahokas
UniPID and the Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL) Africa Network have started cooperating to increase global academic cooperation and integrate Global South voices and perspectives into the work of the Finnish higher education institutions (HEIs).
In fall 2021, UniPID was granted funding from GINTL for an Initiative to channel collaboration with African HEI actors, with whom UniPID and its member universities have existing partnerships. This Initiative consists of a consultation and a African HEI delegation visit to Finland during the spring 2022 to better integrate Global South voices and perspectives into academic partnerships and find/strengthen ways for collaboration in education and learning between Finland and partner countries in Africa.
During the past weeks, the Initiative has kicked off. UniPID has met with GINTL to plan this collaborative initiative that promotes dialogue, discussions, sharing of ideas and perspectives. We believe that through the partnership dialogues, the needs, perspectives, and experiences of African partners can be better included in collaboration with the aim to strengthen the crucial knowledge and understanding needed for more responsible global academic collaboration between Finnish and African HEIs. You can find a short description of this consultative process here.
Currently, we are at initial stage where we are inviting African HEIs to share experiences, priority areas and expectations for future partnerships, especially in the area of education. This will help us to continue the process of strengthening the crucial knowledge and understanding needed for more responsible global academic collaboration. We kindly invite interested partners to reflect on the following questions:
- Which are the education related themes or actions you would like to discuss with Finnish Universities?
- What kind of international cooperation/international partnerships have been beneficial for your organization/institution?
- Which are your organization’s main challenges/concerns? What do you think is needed to overcome the main challenges?
- What are the characteristics of good partnership? What do you expect from international partnerships/collaboration?
You can provide your responses in this form. We would highly appreciate to receive responses by the 18th of March, 2022. In the meantime, we will continue planning the delegation visit and stakeholder event and getting ready for a Launch event of GINTL on 30 March, 2022.
UniPID and GINTL believe that dialogue like this is of crucial importance for building trust and inclusion. By bringing actors together, including and engaging participants in dialogue, it is possible to build mutually beneficial, long-lasting and sustainable collaboration.
Want to know more about this processes? Please do not hesitate to contact us:
Meeri Tiensuu, Education Support Specialist, UniPID, meeri.tiensuu [a] helsinki.fi
Hanna Posti-Ahokas, University Researcher, GINTL, hanna.posti-ahokas [a] helsinki.fi
