The DAAD and the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) are celebrating 20 years of the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) programme, which aims to support the development of higher sector in the Global South. This programme has been financed with ca. EUR 40 million through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The DIES programme assists higher education institutions in the Global South in further professionalising higher education management, aligning degree courses to international standards and expanding research capacities through training and further qualification services delivered in collaboration with German higher education institutions. Nearly 7,000 institutional staff from 51 partner countries received further training in higher education management since the inception of DIES. The programme successfully continued during the pandemic by virtual means.

Last month the DAAD published a position paper on Germany’s future external academic policy, providing a broader framework for global cooperation (for more details, see ACA Newsletter – Education in Europe, October 2021).

The Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI) published a benchmarking study exploring support programmes for Global South partnerships in research and research capacity-building and in higher education and capacity-building offered by 12 different institutions from five different countries (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden), including mobility and scholarship schemes (especially from the Global South to the Global North). The report presents a set of programmes, analyses which features can be considered inspiring or innovative from the Finnish perspective, and highlights what Finland could learn from the experience of these countries and programmes.

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DAAD

EDUFI