EngageSDGs -Developing university capacity in SADC towards participatory approaches in pursuing the SDGs

Erasmus+ (Capacity building in the field of higher education)

EngageSDGs is aimed at universities in South Africa, Mauritius and Zambia and aims to develop the capacities of the so-called SADC (Southern African Development Community) universities with regard to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Together with a total of five EU higher education institutions and two associations (SARUA and OBREAL Global), participatory approaches are used to produce knowledge in the SADC universities and to expand the potential of innovative relationships between them and the community in which they are embedded in the implementation of the sustainability goals. An integrated participatory framework and a digital academic ecosystem will be developed for the collaboration and pilot projects will be implemented at the SADC partner universities.

The sfs will participate in analysing the state of the art in the application of participatory approaches in higher education in three SADC countries. It will welcome a group of representatives from SADC partner institutions for a study visit to Dortmund to reflect on the application of participatory approaches (PA) in higher education.

African partners:

1. Southern African Regional Universities Association (Coordinator) – South Africa: https://sarua.africa/
2. University of the Western Cape – South Africa: https://www.uwc.ac.za/
3. Noordwes-Universiteit – South Africa: https://www.nwu.ac.za/af
4. University of Zambia – Zambia: https://www.unza.zm/
5. University of Lusaka – Zambia: https://www.unilus.ac.zm/
6. University of Mauritius – Mauritius: https://www.uom.ac.mu/
7. University of Technology Mauritius – Mauritius: https://www.utm.ac.mu/

European partners:

1. TU Dortmund University (TUDO) – Germany
2. OBREAL- Global Observatory (Asociación Observatorio de las Relaciones Unión Europea - América Latina) – Spain: https://intranet.eulacfoundation.org/es/mapeo/observatorio-de-las-relaciones-unión-europea-américa-latina-obreal
3. Universitat de Barcelona – Spain: https://web.ub.edu/en/home
4. University College Cork – National University of Ireland – Ireland: https://www.ucc.ie/en/
5. Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna – Italy: https://www.unibo.it/it
6. Vrije Universiteit Brussel – Belgien: https://www.vub.be/nl

• Literature review on current international research on participatory approaches
• Desktop research on current and past projects of SADC universities
• Use of social innovation concept and transformative innovation in education
• Use of focus groups, interviews and questionnaires to assess the use of participatory approaches in SADC universities
• Development of an Integrated Participatory Framework (IPF)
• Pilot projects to test new participatory approaches in higher education

• Report on the use of participatory approaches in higher education in three SADC countries to demonstrate the importance of the higher education sector in achieving the SDGs
• Development of an Integrated Participatory Framework (IPF)
• A Digital Academic Ecosystem as an academic repository for teaching and learning. These will support decision-making and build capacity and collaboration among higher education institutions in SADC countries in utilising participatory approaches for local engagement.
• Develop the capacity of higher education institutions in South Africa, Mauritius and Zambia to utilise participatory approaches to local engagement in teaching, learning and research
• Create a sustainable "community of practice" among regional higher education institutions in SADC countries for the use of participatory approaches in community-orientated knowledge production