A4 Refereed article in a conference publication
Futures Studies for the southern African region – ‘From Africa’ not ‘on Africa'
Subtitle: ‘From Africa’ not ‘on Africa'
Authors: Roddy Fox, Kate Rowntree, Juha Kaskinen
Editors: Jens Seeberg
Publishing place: Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University
Publication year: 2013
Book title : Strenghtening the role of universities as hubs of development. Through the Southern African - Nordic University Centre
First page : 127
Last page: 142
Number of pages: 16
ISBN: 978-87-996673-0-7
Web address : http://sanord.au.dk/fileadmin/www.sanord.au.dk/Sanord_2012_Proceedings.epub
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Futures studies is well established in the Nordic region and its history can be readily charted, but in Africa it barely exists in an institutional form and its evolution and impact is little known or understood. !e "rst two sections of our paper brie#y examine the history of futures studies, spending most attention on the African experience. We go on to show that the Higher Education landscape in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is very di$erent to that in the Nordic
region. Recent futures reports present forecasts and scenarios that show a di$erentiated Higher Education landscape in the SADC; there are few Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and even the most optimistic forecasts show that the region as a whole will not meet the international enrolment norm of 30 per cent by 2050. !e last part of the paper examines our experience of collaboration with
Finland and its well-developed linkages between state and universities. One outcome of three years of collaboration from 2007 to 2009 between two SANORD members, the Finland Futures Research Centre (now a part of the University of Turku) and Rhodes University, was a proposal to develop a multi-disciplinary, inter-institutional futures studies programme – intended to help Africa "nd its own voice in future studies. !e "nal part of our presentation re#ects on the unsuccessful experiences
that we have had to date in "nding funding. We conclude by asking whether our experience can be seen as highlighting some of the challenges SANORD may be positioned to overcome if the SADC region’s HEIs are to achieve the Knowledge Village scenario and begin to match their Nordic counterparts.
ABSTRACT
Futures studies is well established in the Nordic region and its history can be readily charted, but in Africa it barely exists in an institutional form and its evolution and impact is little known or understood. !e "rst two sections of our paper brie#y examine the history of futures studies, spending most attention on the African experience. We go on to show that the Higher Education landscape in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is very di$erent to that in the Nordic
region. Recent futures reports present forecasts and scenarios that show a di$erentiated Higher Education landscape in the SADC; there are few Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and even the most optimistic forecasts show that the region as a whole will not meet the international enrolment norm of 30 per cent by 2050. !e last part of the paper examines our experience of collaboration with
Finland and its well-developed linkages between state and universities. One outcome of three years of collaboration from 2007 to 2009 between two SANORD members, the Finland Futures Research Centre (now a part of the University of Turku) and Rhodes University, was a proposal to develop a multi-disciplinary, inter-institutional futures studies programme – intended to help Africa "nd its own voice in future studies. !e "nal part of our presentation re#ects on the unsuccessful experiences
that we have had to date in "nding funding. We conclude by asking whether our experience can be seen as highlighting some of the challenges SANORD may be positioned to overcome if the SADC region’s HEIs are to achieve the Knowledge Village scenario and begin to match their Nordic counterparts.
UTU Research Portal