We have recently welcomed Professor Leon Tikly to the PARC team as our Academic Director, and asked him a few questions about his new role.
Welcome to PARC! How has your first month been?
It’s been a whirlwind, really exciting. I was delighted to take on this role, there is a lot happening and although it’s daunting I’m up for the challenge. We have a wonderful team of skilled individuals, with everyone focused on one thing: delivering transformative research collaborations with Africa.
I’m looking forward to building on the great work done over the years by the team, co-creating the Charter with African partners and getting it adopted by important organisations. I feel privileged to be part of the Centre and taking its work forward over the next three years. In my first month, there’s been lots of work developing plans for the next three years, which is really exciting. The Charter is the central pillar, but we’ll also be expanding on that, reimagining PARC for new times.
Please could you tell us something about your other interesting roles, for instance at UNESCO? How do you see PARC fitting in as the next chapter?
It’s an exciting juncture in my life, bringing together lots of things I’m passionate about. I hold the UNESCO Chair in Transforming Knowledge and Research for Just and Sustainable Futures and and have been working on epistemic justice for some time, looking at different knowledge systems and the implications for research and teaching. PARC works well with that – there’s a strong tie-in to my previous work on African knowledge systems.
I’m also a Professor in the School of Education and co-Director of the Centre for Comparative and International research in Education (CIRE). Alongside others in the School, I’ve done work over many years fostering Africa-led research and scholarship. A lot of PARC’s work and the ideas around the Charter have important implications for education. It affects how universities work with each other between the global North and South. Educational transformation and epistemic justice are at the heart of the School. I’ve also been involved in a community of practice across the University on decolonising the University over the last few years, following George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives matter movement. The energy this released across the university was amazing. It has underlined the importance of ensuring that other marginalised knowledges can find their place in the global knowledge system.
Being at PARC is like planets aligning for me. I also have a fellowship with the University of Cape Town (UCT), part of which is about looking beyond decolonisation towards new ecologies of knowledge – including local and indigenous. Like Bristol, UCT is aiming to develop its civic mission, working with disenfranchised communities. This also ties in with the Africa Charter because it’s actually transforming partnerships between university researchers and the communities they serve. My project is about how universities can work in co-creative ways to make knowledge relevant for tackling the social and environmental challenges faced by the African continent.
Are there past experiences that you will be drawing on in particular for this role?
It’s helpful having worked in collaborative ways with African partners over a number of years. I’ve worked as a researcher in South Africa and been a science teacher in rural Tanzania. There’s a need to develop a more relevant understanding of science and the challenges of doing this kind of work on the continent, where universities and communities may be under-resourced.
At TESF I directed a large network of 67 projects across Africa and India, all concerned with knowledge co-creation. We worked with everyone from unemployed young people through to pastoralists. We worked with women activists in the Northern Cape fighting against the mining interests encroaching on their livelihoods. To bring different kinds of expertise together – along with policy-makers – at a methodological level is complex. It takes time and resources and patience. The other knowledge I bring to PARC was gained through working in Bristol schools on anti-racism initiatives. I’m really excited about helping PARC understand the connections between Africa and its diaspora.
Please tell us one particularly exciting thing you hope to see PARC doing over the next couple of years.
I’m looking forward to helping develop that community of people who have a passion for African research and want to see the continent succeed. I’m excited about bringing together PARC’s wealth of experience on equitable partnerships. Much of the work has been about engaging with the continent, but I’m also really excited about building community here, making those connections. In Bristol the largest ethnic minority in the city is from the African diaspora.
And finally – when not spearheading PARC initiatives, what else will you be up to (or how will you be relaxing)?
When I have time I’ll be carrying on trying to learn the guitar, being with family and friends and spending time close to nature. We have some lovely landscapes around Cape Town – you can see penguins on Boulders Beach only 20 miles away!
Thank you very much for your time, Leon!
