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About the project
The politics of sustainable development has not received sufficient attention. Despite initial euphoria, progress on achieving the 2030 Agenda and its accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been decidedly mixed. The 2022 SDG Impact Assessment, conducted by a global consortium of researchers (which included members of this Cluster), has shown that the first phase of SDG implementation did not lead to a transformative reorientation of political systems and societies. Sustainable development frequently, albeit erroneously, functions as an apolitical device. This alleged neutrality makes the goal of sustainable development susceptible to co-optation and manipulation, thereby allowing it to endorse a wide range of disparate political objectives. In many countries, including those on the African continent, there is an on-going and often polarized debate on the extent to which each government should be prioritizing “global goals” rather than more narrow local ones (e.g., the allocation of resources to selected regions and targeting selected groups in the population). By focusing on the science-policy-practice interface, the Cluster will not only engage in policymaking but also in taking public action.
The activities of the CoRE will be structured along the following pillars:
- Research on political engagement for a just transition.
- Research on African perspectives on climate adaptation and sustainable development.
- A PhD program on sustainable societal transformation.
Outcomes
A major outcome will be to increase the knowledge base on governance for sustainable development and strengthen the science-policy interface required for societal transformation. We will ensure the long-term sustainability of the CoRE and its scientific impact by developing a community of knowledge partners, including senior researchers, policymakers, doctoral students, and early career scholars equipped with actionable knowledge and skills, which will allow them to plan and support evidence-based public policies aimed at achieving sustainable development in response to the climate challenges. We aim to train a minimum of 40 PhDs at participating universities in Africa over 10 years, and to develop skills and apply evidence-based research findings to design and implement national and regional policies on climate and sustainable development in Africa and Europe.
Background
The Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoRE) bring together distinguished researchers from universities and research institutes across both continents, from ARUA, The Guild and beyond the two networks. Each cluster addresses a key societal challenge, framed by the Global Gateway’s AU-EU Innovation Agenda, in the context of local perspectives to ensure maximum scientific and societal impact. The University of Oslo is a member of The Guild, which comprises twenty-one of Europe’s most distinguished research-intensive universities in sixteen European countries.
Stellenbosch University has recently become part of our cluster, read more about our collaboration here.
Cooperation
- University of Pretoria
- University of Nairobi
- Addis Ababa University
- University of Malawi
- UCLouvain
- Utrecht University
- Stellenbosch University
Duration
10 years