Monday, December 20, 2010

FP6&FP7 coordinators workshop S&T Africa

Under the title “Increasing the Impact of Projects Targeting S&T Cooperation between Europe and Africa: Exploiting Synergies and Exchanging Lessons Learned” two workshops took place on 16 and 17 November 2010 in Marseille, France.

The first workshop, entitled “Second Workshop of Coordinators of Projects Targeting Science and Technology Cooperation Between Europe and Africa” took place on 16 November 2010.

Coordinators of Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) funded under the European Union’s sixth and seventh Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development (FP6 and FP7) attended this workshop. The FP6 covered the period 2002 to 2006, followed by FP7, which is running from 2007 to 2013. The workshop provided a platform for coordinators of FP6 and FP7 projects to exchange information, experiences and good practices, and to discuss ways of improving collaboration for the future.

The coordinators shared information on training carried out within the framework of FP6 and FP7 CSA projects, their events and deliverables. Anne Pflug, a senior scientific officer at the International Bureau of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research presented a prototype web-based tool, which is meant to facilitate the sharing of information and to promote collaboration between coordinators.

The second workshop, named “Lessons Learned from Bi and Multilateral Science and Technology Activities between Europe and Africa” was held on 17 November 2010.

This second workshop focused more specifically on the conditions necessary for the proper conduct of a project, alongside the scientific aspects. The workshop brought together project leaders and focused, through presentations and discussions on the conditions or procedures that contribute to its smooth running: the internal dialogue within the consortium and the available tools, ethics, rules of working together, collective ownership and dissemination of project results.

Speakers at the second workshop, included Philippe Rasoanaivo, a research director at the Institut Malgache de Recherches Appliques at the Université d’Antananarivo (University of Antananarivo), Madagascar. Rasoanaivo, whose areas of speciality cover sustainable uses of Madagascan biodiversity through the biological screening of plant extracts, gave an overview on best ethical practices of scientific cooperation.

Background:
Both workshops are activities of the Network for Coordination and Advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa-EU Science and Technology Cooperation (CAAST-Net) funded under FP7. CAAST-Net is an initiative designed to improve scientific collaboration between the Europe and Africa. CAAST-Net partners involved in the organisation of the event were the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) headquartered in France; the International Bureau of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (IB of BMBF); and the Sénégalese Ministere De L’enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (Ministry of Scientific Research).

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