The UAM hosts the conference ‘The Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2028 and its implications for Spanish universities’ organised by the A4U.
On 1 April, the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) hosted the conference ‘The Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2028 and its implications for Spanish universities’ organised by the Alliance 4 Universities, a key event to analyse the impact of international mobility and research. At this event, institutional representatives, academics and experts discussed the challenges and opportunities posed by this strategic framework for university cooperation.
The meeting, held in the conference room of the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, brought together representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, SEPIE, AECID, RAÍCEX and the Women for Africa Foundation, as well as academics and experts in African studies, with the aim of analysing the key lines of the strategy and its impact on the university environment.
The day began with an institutional welcome by Irene Martín, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation of the UAM. During her speech, she thanked the attendees for attending a ‘very special day’, as ‘a fundamental part of the strategy of the A4U International Relations Group’. ‘Africa, despite being a central part of the strategy of many European Union institutions, does not always receive the attention it should,’ he said. ‘Some of the figures we have on research collaboration or mobility give us clues as to where we should focus our activities from now on,’ he said. The aim of the conference was ‘partly to make visible what we are already doing, but also, together with other experts, to help to specify this Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2028 and to contribute our grain of sand from practice and from the experience we already have in the A4U’.
Ximena Bartolomé, Director General for Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation (in the picture), then presented the key points of the Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2028, addressing its main lines of action and its relationship with the university sector. ‘It is a pleasure to be here and to present a milestone of which we are particularly proud, the new Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2029. Working together through a strategic relationship,’ he said. Bartolomé explained that this initiative aims to ‘raise the profile of our relationship with African partners and make a qualitative leap in this relationship with this continent, which already dates back more than 40 years’. She also pointed out that the strategic plan ‘will represent a road map for the next four years of our external action in Africa and will help us to build these relations together in a more solid, deeper way with African countries, attending to their economic and social transformation’. The director general specified that current trends ‘demand that we focus on youth, climate change, energy and digital transition, with a broader notion of security, which also includes human dignity, and a better connection at all levels, including employment, education and the promotion of coexistence, in the broadest sense of the word,’ she said.
Round table discussions
Throughout the event, four round tables were held. The first round table, entitled Implications for higher education, was moderated by Irene Martín, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation of the Autonomous University of Madrid, with the participation of Roberto Díaz, Secretary General for Institutional Relations and International Coordination of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; Ricardo Mairal, Rector of the UNED and President of the Internationalisation Sector of the CRUE; Eloísa Vaello, Deputy Director of Cooperation and Cultural Action for Sustainable Development at the AECID; Alberto Salcines Sáez, Director of the SEPIE Unit for the Internationalisation of Higher Education in Spain; and María Jesús Blasco Blanco, Director General of the Women for Africa Foundation.
The second round table, entitled International Mobility with Africa, addressed the opportunities and challenges of academic mobility between Spain and the African continent. Moderated by Carolina Marugán, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, it was attended by Sonia Mankongo, a former student of the Learn Africa programme; Diego Falconí, lecturer in Spanish Philology at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, who spoke virtually; Alejandro Melero, lecturer in Communication at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; Miguel Gómez Heras, lecturer in Geology at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, who spoke virtually; Alejandro Melero, lecturer in Communication at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; Jesús Marugán, Professor of Biology at the same university; and Francisco Fuentes, Professor of English Philology also at the UAM. Their interventions reflect the positive impact that the mobilities financed by the A4U Erasmus+ Programme have had on their academic careers.
In the afternoon, the day continued with the third round table, entitled Africa at the UAM, which addressed the presence of African studies at the university and the existing academic networks. This session was moderated by Elsa Aimé, collaborator of the Vice-Rector of Internationalisation for Alliances with African and Mediterranean universities at the UAM, and included the participation of Itziar Ruiz-Giménez, coordinator of the African Studies Group; Luis A. Collado, coordinator of the Jean Monnet AfriquEurope Network; Fernando Borrajo, researcher of the Jean Monnet Polycivis Network; Théophile Ambadiang, director of the Journal of African Studies; and Gonzalo Fernández Parrilla, lecturer in Arabic Language and Literature at the UAM.
The programme concluded with the fourth panel discussion, Implications for research, which analysed the challenges and opportunities posed by the Spain-Africa Strategy in the scientific field. Moderated by Oscar Jané, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, it was attended by Álvaro de la Cruz Dombriz, founding president of ACE South Africa in the RAÍCEX; Maite Blázquez, Vice-Rector for Research and Library of the UAM; and Daniel Jaque, Vice-Rector for Science Policy of this university.
The event, which could also be followed by streaming, facilitating access to a wider audience, has concluded consolidating itself as a space for dialogue and reflection on academic and scientific cooperation between Spain and Africa.
