EU-Africa Conference

Under the title "Applied Sciences as drivers for regional innovation ecosystems in Africa", the EU-Africa Conference was held on 5 and 6 September 2023 by the DAAD Brussels Office together with the European Commission, OBREAL Global, EURASHE, EDUFI, Nuffic and a network of German universities of applied sciences.

Participants from over 20 countries

On-site and online participants from over 150 universities of applied sciences from 15 African and 9 European countries presented and discussed the benefits of applied sciences as a driving force for regional innovation in Africa and for continued stronger cooperation between Europe and Africa.

While the first day of the event set the framework with a public conference addressed to practitioners and policy experts, on the second day cooperation projects were presented and discussed in subsequent workshops divided into the following four thematic blocks: Renewable Energy and Green Transition, Agriculture and Food Security, Public Health and IT/Technology and Innovation.

HSWT contributions on site in Brussels

On the HSWT side, Prof Dr Carsten Lorz moderated a panel that presented examples from various fields of knowledge on the topic of "Applied sciences as a driver for local, regional and international innovation". On the second day, Dr Bernd Müller presented HSWT's international Farm Management degree programme as part of a policy workshop.

Following the conference, jointly agreed conclusions were put in writing, including recommendations for a better understanding of Africa's diversity, capacity building and the embedding of practical components in higher education. The full declaration can be found on the DAAD website.

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