The South Africa–Sweden University Forum (SASUF) involves 23 universities in South Africa and 7 in Sweden. At a first Research and Innovation Week in Pretoria in May, around 400 researchers, senior university officers, and representatives from research funding bodies and ministries will discuss sustainable development in Sweden and South Africa. Uppsala University will be represented by 17 researchers from a range of disciplines.

The focus will be on research on sustainable development, and the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals for 2030 provide the framework of cooperation. The project has defined six areas in which to develop strategies: climate change, higher education curricula, social transformation, future health systems, urbanisation and digital technologies.

“There is great interest in increased research cooperation, from both South African and Swedish universities. At national level, we also see a great willingness to cooperate internationally, which is a bit of a new trend for our universities,” says Eva Åkesson, Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University.

She is one of the initiators of SASUF, which grew out of a tour of South Africa with other Swedish university leaders in the SANORD network, which involves around 30 universities and other higher education institutions in the Nordic countries and South Africa and is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

Several outstanding universities

Uppsala University has long been actively involved in South Africa. There are several outstanding universities in the country, with world-leading research in many areas, particularly big data (digital information) and medicine.

“SASUF is a major collaboration project between our two countries and I am convinced it will be a learning process for everyone involved. It’s complex, with many parties involved at several different levels, and it demands committed and capable project managers, which we have in Uppsala,” says Åkesson.

Sweden still enjoys a special status among many older South Africans. During Apartheid, the policy of racial segregation pursued systematically in South Africa for nearly 50 years, Sweden played an important role in the fight against the system.

“This positive image of Sweden is something we must preserve, and we can’t just rely on our history. South Africa has the very best universities in Africa and Swedish researchers and universities are very keen to increase cooperation,” says Gustaf Cars, project manager at Uppsala University, who is coordinating the project.

Great interest from researchers

SASUF has funding for three years (2017–2020) and during this time the universities will organise various opportunities for cooperation, also involving research funding bodies, governments, organisations, students and other actors in society at large.

Ashleigh Harris, Senior Lecturer at the Department of English at Uppsala, is a member of the project group, acting as coordinator and adviser, as she has links with South Africa and long experience of working at South African universities.

“We received about 50 applications from researchers at Uppsala University, far more than we expected. Apart from a relevant area of research, we’ve taken gender and age into account – we have both young and senior researchers in the project – and have prioritised researchers who have a vision for their cooperation with South Africa,” she says.

According to plan, more initiatives will receive support in the course of the next three years.