Conference on European and African research infrastructure cooperation in Accra, Ghana

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.
CAAST-Net is a five-year joint Africa-Europe platform dedicated to advancing bi-regional cooperation in science and technology. The project is funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7). CAAST-Net’s goal is an increase in the quality and quantity of bi-regional cooperation in science and technology between Europe and Africa, targeting areas of mutual interest and benefit through greater use of instruments under the FP7, as well as through other instruments of international cooperation and through lobbying for greater synergy between R&D and development instruments.

PAERIP (Promoting African European Research Infrastructure Partnerships) is a project funded under FP7 (Theme INFRA-2010-3.2). It aims to identify African‐European cooperation opportunities related to existing research infrastructures. It also explores opportunities for cooperation between the two continents in developing new research infrastructures. PAERIP is undertaking studies of key challenges of African‐European cooperation. Examples of such challenges include: enhanced reciprocal access for researchers to African and European infrastructures, collaboration between Africa and Europe in developing new infrastructures, and maximizing socio-economic benefits from research infrastructure partnerships.