Partnership for Common Goals: South-North university cooperation supporting the Agenda 2030

​To an increasing degree, higher education institutions are expected to contribute to the tackling of global challenges and pressing social issues. This is also reflected in Agenda 2030, and especially in the way it has been adopted among higher education institutions in various countries.  Since being launched by the UN General Assembly in 2015, Agenda 2030 has gained momentum as a framework for global development. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 holds a key position, by focusing on the need for cooperation. Relating to the question “How do institutions bring (responsible) internationalisation into practice and what are the challenges?” we propose a panel on how HEI partnerships can promote Agenda 2030, with a focus on SDG 17. 



Diku and DAAD have a long experience in funding international cooperation between higher education institutions in the North and South. Our experience highlights the need for a balanced cooperation. But how do we achieve equal partnerships between partners in North and South? Who gets to set the agenda? 



The core idea of this panel is to investigate how North-South university partnerships can help us reach Agenda 2030. Based on discussions among programme and project managers, we aim to get a better understanding of the possibilities and challenges in Norwegian and German funded North-South partnership programmes for higher education and how they may be relevant for similar partnerships in other contexts.