Global challenges for development research: lessons from North-South collaborations

Convener: Kevin Noone, Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University

Contact: kevin.noone@aces.su.se

The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide an ambitious and inspiring challenge to the world. The aim is nothing less than to create just, dignified, prosperous and sustainable wellbeing for all. Achieving these goals will require an unprecedented level of effort and collaboration which needs to be carried out in an evidence-based fashion, and be attentive to the inherently political nature of these goals. To address development concerns such as natural resource management, poverty, global environmental change, forced migration and conflict, global production networks and labour requires a truly trans-disciplinary approach.

This session will explore the potential for North-South research collaboration to address these challenges. It will be organized around presentations on the following themes:

• Challenges of developing equal partnerships in North-South research collaboration in the context of structural inequalities;
• Barriers and enablers for carrying out trans-disciplinary development research;
• Examples of success and failure: results from North-South collaborative projects.

We encourage proposals for presentations on topics ranging from specific project results to potential strategies for supporting trans-disciplinary North-South collaboration in development research.

23 Aug., 11:00–12:30, Nordenskiöld Lecture Hall

Time as an issue of power in development research. Helena Kraff, University of Gothenburg.

Sustainable tax governance in developing countries through global tax transparency – DeSTaT. Fredrik Zimmer, University of Oslo. 

University collaboration on solar energy for cooking: technology development and social adaptation studies. Ole Jorgen Nydal, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. 

Training and research activities of the Eastern African universities mathematics programme (EAUMP) and international science programme (ISP): collaborations, challenges and successes. Patrick Weke, University of Nairobi. 

Research beyond cultures? Challenges, opportunities and stories of PhD students from the global South in Uppsala. Stefanie Mallow, Uppsala University. 

Research Collaboration in and with Africa: The case of NORGLOBAL. Henning Melber, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation / University of Pretoria / University of the Free State, Bloemfontein / Nordic Africa Institute / University of London.

Abstract

Time as an issue of power in development research. Helena Kraff, University of Gothenburg.

Development research addresses issues such as poverty, gender and knowledge access, with the overarching goal of creating fair living conditions for all humans. Transdisciplinary approaches and north-south collaborations are considered suitable ways to approach these challenges. However, there is a risk that current structures make equal partnerships in such collaborations unobtainable. University systems, research and funding programmes as well as the actual processes are generally to the advantage of Western researchers, whilst local researchers and practitioners participate under unjust circumstances.  

This paper recognizes time as an issue of power in research and development practice through the aspects of time privilege and time poverty. Different time prerequisites produce inequalities between countries, cultures, funding bodies, researchers, organisations, community groups, but also at household and individual levels. It raises questions of who is given time to take part in projects. Who write proposals, conduct fieldwork, analyse and write up the results, and who may need to chase time in order to be able to take part?

A collaborative project between research platforms in Sweden and Kenya constitutes an example of how time related barriers and challenges affect relationships between stakeholders. Time inequalities are explored through fieldwork experiences, interviews, and reflective conversations between researchers, practitioners and other actors. If a transdisciplinary approach to development research is about equal partnerships it cannot be based on vague formulations. What type of support structures, guidelines and ethical standards are needed for creating just time preconditions between participants?

Sustainable tax governance in developing countries through global tax transparency – DeSTaT. Fredrik Zimmer, University of Oslo.

The main object of the DeSTaT project, which started up in 2013, is to study the challenges emerging for developing states as a consequence the recent trend towards increased international transparency in taxation, in particular through treaties on exchange of tax information on demand and so-called automatic exchange. It is organized with two “northern units” in Vienna and Oslo, and four “antennae” in developing countries: Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay and South Africa. The project works “bottom up”: On agreed subjects, the northern units elaborate questionnaires which are the basis for analysis and discussions in seminars etc. in the antennae with participants from academia, tax administration and private practice. The feed-back from the antennae forms the basis for the writing of so-called meta-articles on the subjects, covering all countries. Uganda was originally partner to the project but had to leave it due to communication problems. Apart from that the cooperation between the units and antennae has functioned very well. One experience so far is that many of the issues which arise have not been dealt with in developing countries so far and the project has given an opportunity to discuss them. Other experiences are that information exchange raises challenges to tax administrations in developing countries and also that it raises concerns about taxpayer rights. The project endeavors to work with the OECD in connection with the implementation on its Base erosion and profit shifting project, in order to highlight the special concerns of the developing countries in that connection, including the importance of adapting the agenda to the possible different good tax governance needs of this category of countries.

University collaboration on solar energy for cooking: technology development and social adaptation studies. Ole Jorgen Nydal, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.​ 

A collaboration between universities in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa and Norway has focused on research and education within renewable energy. A particular research focus has been on heat storage systems for solar cookers at institutional levels, including technical solutions and social aspects on the adaption to new technology. The work has been made in the frameworks of the NUFU, NOMA and NORGLOBAL programs (2008-2013) and included about 9 PhDs and about 20 master students. The university network collaboration continues in an ongoing EnPe project (2015-2019). A summary is given on the results of the projects, on the experiences with the North-South collaboration and on the transdisciplinary technical-social mixture of researchers. The experiences are positive. The combination of research and education is important and the technical-social mixture has been inspiring. The technical objectives have been well defined as well as the division of work. Mobility is positive, where researchers are based at the home universities and hosted for shorter periods in the NTNU laboratories. Umbrella organization with self management and predictable budgets has worked fine. Network projects are valuable (for both staff and students) and has led to strong South-South university relations.

Training and research activities of the Eastern African universities mathematics programme (EAUMP) and international science programme (ISP): collaborations, challenges and successes. Patrick Weke, University of Nairobi.

This programme aims at alleviating the dismal state of Mathematics in the Eastern Africa region. It has been noted that the state of Mathematics in this region is very poor and so corrective measures are needed urgently alleviate its status. Thus EAUMP aims at enhancing capacity building as well as initiating and strengthening research activities and postgraduate training in Mathematics within the region. It is envisaged that EAUMP will promote professional collaboration among participating institutions and institutions in Sweden. Membership of EAUMP consists of the Department of Mathematics from University of Dar es Salaam, Makerere University, University of Nairobi, University of Rwanda and University of Zambia. These universities are task with the responsibility of extending training to other universities in their respective countries. The activities of the programme are mainly sponsored by the International Science Programme (ISP), Sweden. The grant is given to the network and not assigned to individual members of the network. The programme consists of five basic components namely: Postgraduate training, establishment and strengthening collaborative research in Mathematics, improvement of equipment and literature, organizing summer schools and conferences, and development of training and research resources. The aim of this presentation, therefore, is showcase the successes achieved for the period 2003-2015 and the challenges faced.

Research beyond cultures? Challenges, opportunities and stories of PhD students from the global South in Uppsala. Stefanie Mallow, Uppsala University. 

The fieldwork for my master thesis in cultural anthropology entitled “meeting the needs of a global academia? A study on the infrastructure of non-western PhD students in Uppsala”, aimed to look at transnationalism at universities and analyse knowledge exchange beyond boarders.  After talking to more than 60 people, I learned that there are lots of hopes and expectations, but also many challenges and disappointments involved in the work and lives of PhD students from the global south and the people working with them. Those PhD students are often not only seen as young researchers, but as ambassadors for development in their home countries and therefore carry lots of expectations. That successful research between collaborations in the global north and the global south can only be positive for all parties if differences are accepted is something I do not need to highlight. It is also obvious that only together the SDGs can be reached. Yet, there are many remaining questions: what are the differences and how can they be addressed? How can there be a “we” and not a “they and us”? This presentation wants to explore some of these questions through the eyes of PhD students from the south and the stories they told me. It will be about Swedish food and the weather, about cultural differences and hierarchies. And that it needs more than functioning laboratories, accommodation or transportation to be able to be a successful researcher in a different culture. 

Research Collaboration in and with Africa: The case of NORGLOBAL. Henning Melber, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation / University of Pretoria / University of the Free State, Bloemfontein / Nordic Africa Institute / University of London.

This paper engages with the challenges facing genuine research collaboration and knowledge production in a North-South interaction. It maps the asymmetries in global knowledge production in general and revisits the African realities in particular. Using the experiences of the Norwegian research programme NORGLOBAL as an empirical reference point, it critically explores the limitations of partnerships and identifies some challenges resulting from the centuries of Northern hegemony established in all spheres related to global affairs and interactions. It presents some thoughts and suggestions how these limitations might be reduced or eliminated in favor of a true joint effort to meet the challenges on the way towards equal relations and mutual respect.