SASUF 2030 Timeline: 2022 - 2024
The current three year project plan will consist of one main event each year:
- 2022: SASUF Goes Digital, 19-23 September.
- 2023: Research and Innovation Week in South Africa, 27-31 March.
- 2024: Research and Innovation Week in Sweden, May.
The research and Innovation Weeks will happen once a year, and consist of one virtual and two physical. These weeks consist of a variety of events, where sattelite events will take place during the first part of the week, and will round off with a joint Sustainability Forum where everyone meets up.
We will open a call for seed funding applications in accordance with the physical Research and Innovation Weeks, and open the call for VIrtual Collaboration Funding during the virtual one.
Plans and Events for 2022
The virtual Research and Innovation Week, which will go under the name SASUF Goes Digital 2nd edition, took place 19-23 September 2022.
The dates are set to be in conjunction with the Gothenburg Book Fair, where South Africa serves as the guest / focus country this year. The Gothenburg Book Fair is the biggest cultural event in the Nordic countries where about 100 000 participants join and engage in a variety of events.
The week will be built up around Tuesday - Thursday as the main seminar days consisting of a variety of 45-60 min paralell workshops and seminars to engage in. While the Monday and Friday will be reserved for half day/full day workshops (since all topics are not fully suitable for only one hour workshops).
A call for workshops was open 1 April - 21 August 2022. Teachers, researchers, students and other stakeholders are the ones who provide the content for SASUF Goes Digital, and everyone (students, university staff members, researchers, etc.) were welcome to submit a proposal for a workshop. The goal was to ensure accessible participation, and the themes ranged from: projects and collaboration updates, funding opportunities, research, collaboration in academia/society, innovative virtual methods, any topic linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, etc.
During SASUF Goes Digital, a call for virtual collaboration projects was opened, and lasted between 23 September - 29 November 2022. These grants were thought to contribute to the next step approach to virtual collaboration by facilitating constructive people-to-people communication and interaction in higher education. It was an opportunity to develop virtual exchange activities such as courses, programmes or projects. The amounts that were granted were 200 000 SEK / 320 000 ZAR, distributed in accordance with the scope and ambition of the activities.
In order to qualify to apply for the grant, three main things were important:
- Each project must include at least two partner universities in both Sweden and South Africa
(one from each country must be assigned to be the main applicants);
- The project must be connected to at least one of the UN Sustainable Develpment Goals (SDGs)
- Students must be included in the proposal
Plans and Events for 2023
The first of the two physical Research and Innovation Weeks took place in South Africa 27-31 March 2023. The first part of the week (27-28 March) consisted of satellite events at universities across South Africa, which were open for everyone to visit and sign up for.
The main event of the week, the SASUF Sustainability Forum, took place on 29-31 March 2023. This event was hosted by the University of the Western Cape.
The call for workshops, sessions and satellite events was open during November 2022-January 2023, all the information on the call can be found here.
A call for seed funding applications is open between March - May 2023. More information about criteria, exact dates and how to apply can be found here.
Plans and Events for 2024
The final Research and Innovation Week will be held in Sweden, 13-17 May 2024. It will consist of two days filled with Satellite Events across the host country, followed by a three day Sustainability Forum where nominated participants gather for joint workshops.