University Development Co-Operation Models of Good Practice

Pablo Beneitone, Susan Höivik, Nadia Molenaers, Andreas Obrecht, Robrecht Renard University Development Co-operation Models of Good Practice HumanitarianNet Thematic Network on Humanitarian Development Studies University Development Co-operation Models of Good Practice University Development Co-operation Models of Good Practice Edited by Pablo Beneitone Susan Höivik Nadia Molenaers Andreas Obrecht Robrecht Renard Series technical editor Almudena Garrido 2003 University of Deusto Bilbao We would like to thank Julia Gonzalez, Coordinator of HumanitarianNet, for her overall vision of the project, and Robert Alcock for proofreading the book. The editors No part of this publication, including the cover design, may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by and means, whether electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, recording or photocopying, without prior permission or the publisher. Publication printed on ecological paper Illustration of front page: Xabi Otero © Universidad de Deusto Apartado 1 - 48080 Bilbao I.S.B.N.: 978-84-9830-510-4 Contents Introduction: Some ideas about University Development Co-operation Pablo Beneitone (University of Deusto) . 9 Models of Good Practice of International Co-operation - Austria Margit Franz (Johannes Kepler University Linz) . 17 Intitutional University Co-operation in Flanders. Nothern Principles versus Southern Realities. Nadia Molenaers and Robrecht Renard (University of Antwerp) . 35 Finland Reijo Keurulainen (University of Jyäskylä) . 55 International Co-operation in the French University System Bernard Guesnier (University of Poitiers) . 67 University Development Cooperation in Germany Wilhelm Löewenstein (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) . 81 Italy Gianni Vaggi (University of Pavia), Costanza Ventura and Maura Vie- zzoli (CISP) . 91 Models of good practice of international co-operation. The case of Norway Odd Inge Steen (University of Bergen) . 111 The Role of Higher Education in the North - South Co-operation. Portu- guese Models of Co-operation. Alexandra Lages Miguel (University of Coimbra) . 127 Spanish Universities and Development Co-operation Pablo Beneitone (University of Deusto) . 141 © University of Deusto - ISBN 978-84-9830-510-4 8 CONTENTS UK Higher Education in International Co-operation Ann Muir (University of Edinburgh) . 157 University Development Co-operation and Good Practices: Discussion Nadia Molenaers and Robrecht Renard (University of Antwerp) . 173 © University of Deusto - ISBN 978-84-9830-510-4 Introduction: Some ideas about University Development Co-operation Pablo Beneitone Nature hath made men so equal in the faculties of the body and mind, as that, though there be found one man sometimes manifestly stronger in body or of quicker mind than another, yet when all is reckoned together the difference between man and man is not so considerable as that one man can thereupon claim to himself any benefit to which another may not pretend as well as he. Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan. Chapter XIII: Of the Natural Condition of Mankind as Concerning Their Felicity and Misery. What is understood by International Co-operation and Development Co-operation? It is difficult to find a definition of international co-operation. The extent and ambiguity of the term means that it can be everything and nothing at the same time. It is a concept that is used for many, very diverse relations. We thus find definitions that link international co-operation with mutual interest, and others that relate it with relations based on force and the geostrategic hegemonies practiced by some countries in certain regions. The Development Aid Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines international co- operation as a broad concept that encompasses all kinds of activities carried out jointly and in coordination by two or more sovereign States and/or by these and international organisations, whatever their area or aim. According to this definition, and within it, we should then consider development co-operation as the type of co-operation that is carried out in the international area to accelerate the development of poor countries. Development co-operation can then be defined as a form of international co-operation which, seeking mutual benefit, makes contact between countries with different levels of development. In general, we are accustomed to speaking indiscriminately about development co-operation or aid. I believe it is appropriate to make a © University of Deusto - ISBN 978-84-9830-510-4 10 PABLO BENEITONE distinction here, and that in the present context it is more pertinent and exact to speak about development co-operation rather than aid. To co-operate implies sharing work or a task, doing something with others in a coordinated way, in conformity with a plan, and to a certain degree, voluntarily, encouraged by some type of mutual interest or benefit, which may be established as well between unequal partners, as between equals. Aid is something different from co-operation. It still has a social content, since it presupposes a relation between partners, but it does not imply sharing. It presupposes inequality and it is sufficient that the part that aids takes the initiative in favour of the other, with a certain degree of liberality, of disinterestedness, of concession. In principle, one can help someone who is passive or even someone who refuses to be helped.1 In this respect, we should reflect that we have as much to receive from the less developed countries as to offer. We need their resources, their markets and also their people and cultural values as much as they do us and of ours. It is more precise to speak about co-operation than about aid, since the problem of underdevelopment demands a coordinated international effort, via common policies tending to stimulate the economic and social progress of the less developed countries. In order to clarify the terminology to be used, we can speak about four modes that international co-operation can assume: financial co- operation2, food aid3, humanitarian aid4 and technical co-operation5. 1 MARTÍNEZ GONZALEZ-TABLAS, A. (1995): Visión Global de la Cooperación para el Desarrollo. Icaria Editorial. Barcelona. 2 Financial co-operation fits within the mode of refundable co-operation and is linked to aid in kind, of basic non-food products, and subsidies and financial loans to pay for imports of basic products. Its also includes the resources assigned to the cancellation of national debt. 3 The FAO defines food aid as food provision for human consumption with the aim of development, including subsidies and loans to buy food. Related costs, such as transport, storage, distribution, etc., are also included in this category, as well as supplies related to food and provided by the donors, such as animal feed and agricultural inputs related to cultivation, which form part of a programme of food aid. 4 Humanitarian aid constitutes a response by the international community to emergencies, which stem from natural disasters (earthquakes, droughts, floods, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions ...), epidemics, or armed conflicts. 5 The OECD defines technical co-operation as the activities whose primary aim is to increase the level of knowledge, technologies, practical know-how or productive attitudes of the population of developing countries, that is to say, to increase their © University of Deusto - ISBN 978-84-9830-510-4 INTRODUCTION 11 A context in transformation The struggle against poverty by co-operative means is an indis- pensable instrument to promote global peace and security, democracy and human rights, as well as development that is sustainable from economic, social and environmental points of view. In the long term, the mission of development co-operation is that of abolishing the root causes of conflicts in the international system. Development co-operation arose in the context of the Cold War and the process of decolonisation, and its current characteristics are the result of the history of the last fifty years. Throughout this period, the countries of the North have committed themselves to the cause of development and through co-operation they have shown themselves to be the defenders of the peoples of the South. This is exemplified by the goal of 0.7 %6, which implies rich countries undertaking to allocate that percentage of their GDP to development co-operation actions. Lamentably, to date only 5 countries7 have been able to keep this promise made more than 30 years ago. At present, development co-operation is in a period of great transformation in which an important review of its foundations, aims reserve of human intellectual capital or their ability to use their current resources with greater efficiency. Technical co-operation has as its basic aim that countries or institutions with a more advanced level of development in certain areas, contribute to the solution of specific problems of less developed countries or institutions, through the transference and interchange of scientific and technological capacity, human and material resources. This mode of co-operation considers education as the engine of transformation of expanding economies. Technical co-operation between developed and less-developed countries has an essentially educational character in the form of expert services, scholarships, transference of equipment and supplies, sending of bibliographical material and interchange of information and experience 6 The first time it was recommended that rich countries should dedicate 0.7% of their GNP

Load more