(Original Swedish post published 19 August.)
So once again, it was time for the annual SANORD Conference, this time at Jyväskylä University in Finland. The theme of this year’s conference was Academic Citizenship: Recognition, Resilience and Resistance. There were many interesting presentations and keynotes; Professor Sabelo Gatsheni-Ndlovu (University of South Africa) in particular gave us in the audience much to think about with his speech on the decolonisation of universities. The participants from Uppsala University were Dr Shepherd Urenje (SWEDESD), Peter Sundin (ISP), Erika Andersson and Ulrica Ouline (both from the International Office), and myself (Eva Åkesson). A Board meeting and the annual Council meeting were also held in connection with the conference. New Board members were appointed for the period 2020–2021, and principles for membership and a new action plan in line with the strategy for the period until 2022 were adopted. You can read more about SANORD here.
SANORD (the Southern African–Nordic Centre) is a network consisting of 48 universities in Southern Africa and the Nordic region. Uppsala University holds the Chair of the network’s Board until the end of December this year, after which the University of Botswana will take over. The next conference will take place in Botswana on 11–13 September 2019. If you are a researcher at Uppsala University, you can currently apply for money (ZAR 60,000) for collaborative projects through SANORD’s Theme Group Support. Contact Ulrica Ouline at the International Office to find out more, ulrica.ouline@uadm.uu.se.
