Universities as Partners in International Cooperation: Building Fairer Partnerships​

Universities are key players in international cooperation, though they often go unrecognized. Through their research, teaching, and student mobility activities, as well as partnerships with local institutions, they have the potential to contribute to sustainable, locally grounded, and mutually beneficial development and global health initiatives. Yet, this potential remains poorly understood and too often underutilized.

This holds true for universities in the Global South as well: far from being mere beneficiaries or implementing partners, they are key actors possessing local expertise and institutional knowledge, capable of defining priorities and solutions tailored to their specific contexts. Strengthening cooperation therefore requires moving beyond traditional North-South models in favor of more balanced, reciprocal partnerships.

Interactions between NGOs and local universities in countries of operation are still in their infancy, yet existing experiences show promise.

This session will examine how universities in the North and South can better leverage their respective strengths and build forms of cooperation that are more equitable, sustainable, and impactful, in collaboration with traditional international cooperation actors.

Three participatory roundtables will address the following themes:

• the development of effective cooperation initiatives by universities;
• the contribution of student internships to cooperation dynamics;
• Collaboration between international solidarity NGOs and local universities in countries of operation.