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COOPERATIVE RESEARCH ON EAST AFRICAN TERRITORIAL INTEGRATION WITHIN GLOBALISATION

Final Report Summary - CREATING (Cooperative research on East African territorial integration within globalisation)

One East African and eight European institutions have proposed a collaborative project to establish research networks linking together scholars across eastern Africa with colleagues in Europe. The activity of these networks concentrated on issues of development within the context of improved social and regional cohesion, with a particular focus on montane and lacustrine regions which lie across political boundaries. All these institutions have long experience working in research and higher education in the region, and all of them are willing to strengthen their links in order to promote research which will improve our understanding of the challenges of cohesion, and which will bring academics together in a practical example of the benefits and possibilities of cooperation.

The proposal was launched in the context of continuing deficiencies in research capacity within eastern Africa, many of which derive from poor integration within the region and a lack of productive engagement with research partners from beyond the eastern African region. The general objective of the proposal is to offer new insights on challenges and create, develop and strengthen a social sciences and humanities research network bringing together scholars and institutions from the European research area with colleagues and partner institutions from a number of eastern African countries.

The proposed network will build research cooperation within and beyond the European research area and will assist in developing research capacity, particularly in third countries in eastern Africa; it will promote eastern African understanding of the aims of the Seventh Framework Programme, and contribution to all activities, areas, topics addressed by this proposal; it will encourage regional integration within eastern Africa; and it will help in identifying priority areas for future research of mutual interest and benefit.

The proposed network intended to:
- build research cooperation within and beyond the European research area and promote eastern African understanding of, and participation in, the aims of the Framework Programme;
- develop research capacity, particularly in third countries in eastern Africa;
- identify priority areas for future research of mutual interest and benefit using the opportunity offered by the Specific International Cooperation actions;
- encourage regional integration within eastern Africa.