City and university leaders are gathering to start Bristol on a journey of modelling and championing transformative Africa partnerships
On 31st October, city leaders and senior figures at the University of Bristol will join forces to find ways to make Bristol a city that models the principles of the Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations.
Together with other University of Bristol groups working on issues of decolonisation, Africa, anti-racism, and inclusivity in research, PARC will convene communities across the University and the City of Bristol to foster wide, open and critical engagement, bringing in African voices across the city to find ways in which Bristol can become a beacon for equitable partnerships with the continent.
Central to the event will be the performance of a specially commissioned poem by Dr Lawrence Hoo which captures something of the long history of intellectual thought on transformative collaborations, bringing Africa’s knowledge offer to life.
“It is a joy to be commissioned to write a poem for the Africa Charter as it is addressing a cause that is close to my heart. Fair and equal representation,”
– Dr Lawrence Hoo
Among the speakers will be Peninah Achieng-Kindberg of the African Voices Forum, Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol and several other higher education leaders.
The event will explore and consider ‘Bristol’ perspectives on the Charter: from City of Bristol diaspora constituencies – and from the University’s decolonisation, Forever Africa, anti-racism, inclusive research and restorative futures work. Ultimately it will establish who will take this work forward and achieve real change in the city and University.
About the Africa Charter
The Charter is an Africa-centred framework for advancing a transformative mode of research collaborations that will serve to advance and uphold the continent’s place in the global production of scientific knowledge. It was co-created by Africa’s major higher education constituencies, including the Association of African Universities (AAU), African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), African Academy of Sciences (AAS), CODESRIA and International Network for Higher Education in Africa (INHEA) among others. Read the charter here.