As a member of the “Hochschulnetzwerk für globale Partnerschaften Baden-Württemberg”, the higher education network for global partnerships Baden-Württemberg, the Department for International Urbanism has contributed to a recommendation paper which calls on the government of Baden-Württemberg for improved conditions, financial support and increased cooperation with universities in countries of the Global South to promote sustainable global partnerships.
The paper identifies higher education institutes as change agents for transformation towards Agenda 2030, but also notes that they are only partially prepared for global challenges. Among others, colonial and eurocentric viewpoints can still be found in research, teaching, staffing and international partnerships, and bureaucratic structures make collaboration with universities from countries in the “Global South” difficult. Based on the challenges identified, the paper proposes ten recommendations to the Baden-Württemberg government, ranging from making visa-procedures for students and researchers from the Global South easier, over proactively dealing with the colonial responsibility of universities, abolishing fees for international students and expanding internationalisation strategies linked to the Global South. For the full paper and all the recommendations (in German), see here.
