Conference on European and African research infrastructure cooperation Dec. 3-4, 2012 – Accra, Ghana
ACCRA, GHANA – on December 3-4 2012 the third CAAST-Net stakeholders’ conference on Africa-Europe Science and Technology (S&T) cooperation will take place. The conference is organised in collaboration with PAERIP (Promoting African – European Research Infrastructure Partnerships) project and will provide a forum for 100 experts and stakeholders from Europe and Africa to exchange opinions and offer the opportunity for mutual learning on the role of research infrastructures (RI) in S&T cooperation partnerships between both regions, specifically within the context of addressing societal challenges shared by Africa and Europe.
The purpose of the CAAST-Net Stakeholders’ conferences is to support S&T policy engagements between Europe and Africa by facilitating a stakeholder dialogue around policy topics of mutual interest that are considered important for the enhancement of S&T collaboration between Africa and Europe.
The conference will be hosted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Ghana/Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (CSIR/STEPRI). It will include contributions from leading African and European research infrastructures, interventions from policy-makers, including from the European Commission and the African Union Commission, and from potential funders of research infrastructure cooperation. Four parallel workshops will consider in greater detail the potential for research infrastructure cooperation in the areas of health (e.g. clinical trials for interventions in the fight against infectious diseases), food security (e.g. seed collections or clinical facilities to improve animal health), the environment (e.g. Earth observation systems especially those focused upon understanding global change) and basic sciences (e.g. large-scale facilities such as telescope and accelerators).
This upcoming conference has been conceived as an opportunity to enrich and strengthen the Africa- Europe STI cooperation as it will foster exchange and networking among bi-regional RI stakeholders, raise public understanding on the importance of investing in RI and facilitate partnerships with stakeholders and other initiatives. The conference will produce a set of recommendations on how research infrastructure partnerships can contribute to the Science, Information Society and Space Partnership of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, which will be transmitted to African and European policymakers.
