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AFAS @ the DAAD Conference “International Scientific Cooperation for the World of Tomorrow: Global Centres for Health and Climate”

 

From the 6th to 7th of September 2022, AFAS staff members and students attended the exciting DAAD Conference “International Scientific Cooperation for the World of Tomorrow: Global Centres for Health and Climate” in Berlin, Germany. 


The conference opened with speeches from the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and Dr. Kai Sicks (DAAD). After a keynote lecture by Prof. Dr. Johanna Hanefeld (RKI), our PI Prof. Dr. Christian Borgemeister (ZEF) took part in a panel discussion on “Solving Global Challenges Together – the Contribution of International Scientific Cooperation”.

The second day of the conference started with the panel discussion  “One Planet, One Health – Discussing Partnerships for Healthy People on a Healthy Planet”.

During a poster session, the participants had the opportunity to get to know the Global Centres and the Humboldt Research Hubs and to get in touch with the people behind the Centres.

In the session “Climate and Environment: Insights in Research Topics from the DAAD Climate Centres”, the four Global Climate Centres presented some of their research outcomes. AFAS-coordinator Dr. N’golo Koné (UFHB) talked about “Zaï as an example for a Nature-based Solution to sustainable agriculture”.

During the workshop session, AFAS team-members participated in the workshop “Academic collaboration across the Global South”. Besides break-out sessions, our PI Prof. Dr. Souleymane Konaté gave a presentation on CAMES (Conseil Africain et Malgache pour l’Enseignement Supérieur/The African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education), an organization fostering cooperation among 19 francophone African countries, followed by a presentation by Dr. Daniel Karthe on the United Nations University UNU-Flores. The workshop was moderated by AFAS-coordinator Dr. Gerda Kuiper and Dr. Firas Aljanabi (ABCD-Centre). 

In the final panel discussion of the Climate and Environment Session, “Achieving the Goals of the Paris Agreement – How to Act in International Climate Policy?”, AFAS-representative Dr. Christine Omuombo (ICCA, University of Nairobi) discussed with other panelists how science and research in general, and institutions such as the DAAD-supported Global Centres in particular, can best contribute to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, including not only mitigation, but also adaptation and climate justice. The panel tried to figure out the chief obstacles to climate action, the most important steps to go forward in international climate policy and shed light on the role of different actors. 

© All photos: DAAD/Stefan Zeitz