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Global Partnerships

Working Group

Chair: Nils Gunnar Songstad

Nils Gunnar Songstad is administrative leader of Global challenges, one of the strategic prioritized areas of University of Bergen, Norway. The unit holds an annual PhD research school, established in 2008, with participants from all over the world. He holds a PhD in health systems research, and his background is in social anthropology and political science. He has extensive work experience in East Africa through development, research and research administration. His main focus is to promote collaboration between scientific disciplines in addressing global challenges, and to stimulate collaboration with the Global South based on mutual responsibilities.

Vice-Chair: Nuné Nikoghosyan

Nuné Nikoghosyan is partnerships manager at the International Relations and Partnerships Office of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She manages international collaboration agreements as well as multilateral partnerships and seed funding schemes for research. With a PhD in sociology, her main interests lie in internationalization of higher education as well as cultural and science diplomacy. Being originally Armenian and having lived in various countries, her background lies in multicultural environments, and she is convinced of the strong benefits of interculturality and international cooperation for humanity and development. 

Working Group Focus

The global social responsibility of universities requires their active engagement with global cooperation issues and challenges. The Coimbra Group aims at increasing such engagement to create an effective response to major cooperation challenges and fruitful relationships with the main global partnership and development agencies, in primis the European Union (EU).

The academic world plays an important role as promoter of a broad and solid approach to global cooperation, the promotion of a global citizenship education and the implementation of a participative approach to research and for global partnerships.

The activities of the Global Partnerships Working Group align with global and European policies in the sense that they refer to actual challenges in global partnerships, especially concerning the SDGs and their implementation in decolonisation and education.

Priorities for 2026 – 2029

  • Supporting the implementation of the Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations.
  • Implementing joint training sessions and education programmes (e.g. summer / winter schools) to contribute to the improvement of institutional capacities, and implementation of joint training sessions and education programmes in the framework of Erasmus+ projects.
  • Sharing knowledge and experiences of collaboration models in higher education and research, by integrating a critical perspective in order to achieve more equitable partnerships.
  • Strengthening partnerships and building new connections with university networks and associations across different world regions to foster mutual learning, exchange best practices, and advance shared commitments to equitable global collaborations in higher education and research.
  • Investigating the role of universities as agents of global cooperation and science diplomacy at the country or regional level, including human and institutional capacity strengthening. Reflecting on how shifting geopolitical forces are affecting university partnerships and what they stand for.

Recent highlights since September 2025

  • The annual International Summer School on European Multilingualism took place at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), 23-27 June 2025.
    • With support from the Erasmus+ programme (KA131), the summer school brought together teachers from 9 CG members: the Universities of Coimbra (Portugal), Graz (Austria), Iaşi (Romania), Jena (Germany), Pavia (Italy), Poitiers (France), Salamanca (Spain), Turku (Finland) and Würzburg (Germany), in collaboration with speakers from the University of Niš (Serbia).
    • This Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) on European Multilingualism and Cultural Mediation Studies aims to share innovative approaches to language teaching and learning.
    • The programme offered courses in translation and language application in small tandem groups: English, German, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
    • In addition, Language Discovering Workshops enabled all participants to learn about four Less Widely Used and Lesser-Taught languages (LWULT) – Kurdish, Romani, Serbo-Croatian and Portuguese – and their important role in maintaining language diversity and the world’s multilingual heritage.
  • The conference Africa-Europe Research Collaborations took place at the University of Bergen, Norway, on 3 December 2025, alongside a regular WG meeting in Bergen on 1-2 December 2025.
    • A total of 75 participants registered for the event, and approximately 50 attended on site.
    • The event was streamed, and the recording is available online.
    • The event was opened by Kristoffer Chelsom Vogt, Vice-Rector for Research, Education and Internationalisation at the University of Bergen. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Isabella Aboderin from the University of Bristol, UK, followed by comments from Professor Bjørn Enge Bertelsen of the University of Bergen.
    • The programme also included sessions on the Southern African–Nordic Centre (SANORD), early-career researcher perspectives on Africa-Europe collaboration, and the Bergen-Sudan collaboration.
    • Four members of the Global Partnerships WG presented examples of collaboration between their respective universities and African institutions. The universities represented were the University of Geneva (Switzerland), KU Leuven (Belgium), Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) and the University of Salamanca (Spain). The event concluded with a panel debate on the future of Africa-Europe research collaborations.
  • The WG has continued its work on advancing the Africa Charter in collaboration with the Perivoli Africa Research Centre.
    • In early 2025, the WG established a sub-group focused on the Africa Charter.
    • In May 2025, the WG invited the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of all WGs to receive information on the Africa Charter.
    • Following the discussion at the Annual Conference in Bologna in June 2025, the WG initiated a process to develop an application for the COST Action call, with a deadline in October 2025. A successful workshop hosted by KU Leuven, Belgium, in early July 2025 was an important milestone in this process. The core group formed during the workshop went on to develop the application. A key activity in this process was expanding the network of partners participating in the application. CG universities were invited to join.
  • UNAM Series activities 2025-2026: the University of Bergen, KU Leuven, Padova University, Turku University and Utrecht University have contributed to the UNAM Networking Series in collaboration with the University of Namibia by delivering online workshops on topics related to research management, grant writing and support. The workshops have been delivered in October and November 2025, February and April 2026, with another online webinar planned for early summer. The workshops have had a broad audience spanning several African countries, numerous institutions of higher education and both scholars and administrative staff.
  • Initiative on Peace and Conflict Studies 2024-2025: a new Initiative consortium has been established in Bologna during the Coimbra Group Annual Conference, including the following partners: Coimbra (Portugal), Granada (Spain), Jena (Germany), Padua (Italy), Pavia (Italy), Poitiers (France) and Trinity College (Ireland). Challenges and obstacles regarding Master’s modules taught entirely in English among all partners beside Trinity College have been identified. To address and overcome these obstacles new courses are to be identified and collected by the University of Jena.

Ongoing / Forthcoming activities 2026 – 2027

  • At the Coimbra Group 2026 Annual Conference, to be held at the University of Granada (Spain) in June 2026, the Global Partnerships WG will be co-organising:
    • A joint session with the Heritage WG, entitled “The Africa Charter and University Colonial Heritage: Opportunities for Dialogue and Learning”
    • A joint open session with the Latin America, Academic Exchange and Mobility WGs and the EUniverse project, entitled “Interconnecting Knowledge: Intercultural Communication, Shared Civic Values and Global Mobility”.
  • The 2026 International Summer School on European Multilingualism organised annually by the Global Partnerships WG will take place at the University of Pavia (Italy) 22-26 June.
    • Coordinated by the University of Poitiers (France), the summer school will involve teachers from CG member universities with the aim of sharing innovative linguistic approaches to teaching and learning languages.
    • The programme will offer courses in translation and language application in small tandem groups. It will also offer a Language Discovering Workshop allowing participants to learn about the Less Widely Used and Lesser-Taught languages (LWULT) and their importance in maintaining language diversity and the world’s multilingual heritage.
  • Continued cooperation with the Perivoli Africa Research Centre, University of Bristol, on the implementation of the Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations. The Africa Charter is a roadmap to more equitable and more inclusive research relationships with higher education institutions in Africa.
    The Global Partnerships WG will work closely with all CG universities and Working Groups to organise events to promote and disseminate knowledge on the Charter.
  • Continued collaboration within the framework of the Peace and Conflict Studies Initiative:
    • The University of Jena launched a new call in March 2026 for the autumn / winter term, for the 2026-2027 exchange cohort of guest students.
    • The goal is to launch the first Master’s student cohort with 2 students from each partner university, across 6 or 7 partners, resulting in 12 students participating in the first cohort for the autumn / winter semester of 2026–2027.
    • To this end, English-taught courses and/or modules had to be identified and shared with partners for nomination purposes by early April 2026. Mobilities are set to begin in autumn 2026. The certificate has yet to be established.
  • Continued collaboration within the framework of the UNAM (University of Namibia) Networking Series, organised by the Global Partnerships WG. The webinar series will be evaluated to decide what should be retained. Several topics have been proposed for new workshops. We have also submitted two abstracts for the SANORD conference hosted by the University of Namibia in September 2026, one for a paper presentation on experiences from the series and one for an on-site workshop on the topic of mentorship.
  • Reflection on and development of projects/activities around the Durham Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainability, with a possible draft action plan. In this regard, a small sub-group has been established in spring 2026 and is currently composed of three members.
  • Development of a Global Partnerships WG (and eventually Coimbra Group) language policy to support equitable communication and collaborations with all countries and regions.
  • Reflection on and development of projects/activities around refugee support initiatives at universities, in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders within each university and the current list of contact persons nominated by CG universities.

Forthcoming activities 2027 – 2029

  • In general, the Global Partnerships WG will strive to co-organise at least one joint session with another WG at each Coimbra Group Annual Conference.
  • Recurring annual events, where possible:
    • International Summer School on European Multilingualism (new host each year)
    • Student exchanges within the Peace and Conflict Studies Initiative
    • Workshops within the UNAM Networking Series
  • Continued efforts within the other projects/activities, including but not limited to the Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations, the Durham Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainability, a language policy, refugee support initiatives.

Contact person at the CG Office: Catarina Moleiro (moleiro@coimbra-group.eu)