International conference in Hamar

56 Nordic and southern African universities and colleges from 12 countries take part in SANORD. In the fall, the research network will gather for a conference in Hamar.

Picture of Umesh Bawa presenting a gift to Stine Grønvold on stage, with some of the conference participants sitting at the front of the stage.

Director of SANORD Central Office, Professor Umesh Bawa, symbolically hands over responsibility for next year's conference to Stine Grønvold, pro-rector for education at INN University.

Photo: Photo: Bente Gaalaas Rønningen Bolme / INN University.

“We look forward to hosting an important gathering arena aimed at connecting academics and institutions from the north and the south. We have participated for more than a decade and see that the network has increasing value for us and our international work,” says INN University Rector Peer Jacob Svenkerud.

Gathering in South Africa this week

Rektor Peer Jacob Svenkerud står foran en gruppe mennesker i et styremøte
Rector Peer Jacob presented INN University's candidature as next year's organizer of the SANORD council's meeting.

The conference in Hamar will take place in September 2023. The choice of Hamar as the conference location was made during this year's SANORD conference, which brought together 230 participants at the University of Limpopo in South Africa this week.

“We were actively present in Limpopo. Three of our six faculties were represented, and several of INN University's researchers presented and participated in discussions. There were also useful meetings about how we can develop the collaboration further,” says Svenkerud.

56 participating institutions

SANORD is an abbreviation for "Southern African Nordic Centre" and is a network that aims at promoting academic cooperation between Nordic countries and regions in southern Africa.

24 Nordic and 32 African institutions participate in the network, and in a number of joint projects within research and education. Themes related to sustainable development are central.

“North and South face many of the same challenges but see them from different points of view. Therefore, the dialogue across the board is useful for contributing to new and helpful solutions through joint projects,” says the rector.

Important arena

The annual conference, which brings together all partners, is central to the work on strengthening cooperation between the institutions.

Here, researchers meet to discuss research and education issues. In addition, the rectors and presidents who lead the institutions, as well as administrative staff, meet for dialogue and to facilitate cooperation between institutions and countries.

The theme of the conference in Hamar is “The role of higher education in contributing to just and sustainable futures.”

Cooperation follow up

During this year's conference in South Africa, meetings were also held to follow up INN University's cooperation agreements with two universities in Namibia.

A Namibian delegation visited INN University as part of an official state visit to Norway in June, while INN University's management visited the two universities earlier this autumn.

Contact: 

Picture of Bente Gaalaas Rønningen Bolme
Senior Adviser
Email
bente.bolme@inn.no

 

This article was translated from Norwegian by Noorit Larsen

By Tore Høyland
Published Dec. 9, 2022 4:55 PM - Last modified Dec. 11, 2022 10:56 PM