New guide to good practices in UK-Africa Higher Education partnerships

The Association of Commonwealth Universities’ Africa Unit has just published an excellent short guide on good practices in developing educational partnerships between higher education institutions in Africa and the UK.

As the Africa Unit comments, “The main reason behind the preparation of this Guide … is the lack of knowledge about the scope, nature and depth of partnerships in this area. The Guide does not set out to present a set of universal, objective rules to be followed and which will guarantee success. Instead, it identifies 10 valuable ‘principles of management and good governance’ which have been the driver behind a number of successful and sustainable UK-Africa partnerships, which can inform future partnerships”.

This is a really useful document, full of helpful tips and advice, and anyone considering developing such partnerships should get hold of a copy and read it diligently. The ten key principles that it advocates are:

Shared Ownership
Trust and Transparency
Mutual Understanding of different Cultural and Working Environments
Clear Division of Roles and Responsibilities
Effective and Regular Communication
Joint Strategic Planning and Implementation
Strong Commitment across the board from Staff and Management
Supportive Institutional Infrastructure
Monitoring and Evaluation
Sustainability

As someone who has been actively involved in such partnerships over the last decade, these principles resonate very strongly with my own experiences. Many thanks to the Africa Unit for expressing them so clearly and succinctly.

Who’s watching who at LHR?

The extent of state surveillance in the UK increases apace. Imagine my surprise when I saw this police car with a surveillance camera on the roof when I was recently passing through London Heathrow!

Perhaps we should all start taking photographs of those who are taking photographs of us while we are going about our day-to-day business!

What happens to all the photographs that the police take of us? Imagine what would happen if we all asked for copies of such photographs under Freedom of Information legislation! Just because it is possible for the state to photograph its citizens and store this information does not mean that it is right for the state to do so.

Love Arlanda, 6th-19th June 2010

I have long enjoyed landing at Arlanda airport to the north of Stockholm. Somehow, the pace of life changes as soon as the plane’s wheels touch the ground. The clean air, the clean lines of the airport, and the pace at which the Swedes manage to live their lives to the full, are just inspirational.

Imagine my surprise earlier this year when the Swedes declared Arlanda as the Official Love Airport to celebrate the wedding on June 19th between HRH Crown Princess Victoria and Mr. Daniel Westling. Mind you, it seems a bit weird to lay claim to such a title!

In defence of Godstone

Today’s announcement that “Lawyers representing 28 victims of last year’s E. coli outbreak at Godstone farm in Surrey are preparing to demand “substantial” damages in a group legal action” raises complex and interesting issues. Of course it is extremely sad that so many people suffered, and are still suffering, from the outbreak of E. coli traced to the farm in September 2009. However, Godstone farm has provided an important source of education and enjoyment for thousands of people over many years. It does not make huge profits, and it is difficult to imagine how the owners could afford to pay substantial damages.

I have extremely fond memories of taking my children to Godstone farm on many occasions more than a decade ago. What struck me particularly was just how much the owners advertised the importance of people washing their hands. Indeed, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could have visited the farm then without being aware of the risks that were involved. Godstone provided many more notices and offered more taps for people to use than did most other farms that we visited.

There is always a risk that people can pick up infections and illnesses from animals. Parents of young children have responsibilities for their care in all sorts of situations – including the need to wash their hands carefully when they have been in contact with animals. Likewise, farms have a duty to inform the public as soon as they are aware that their animals definitely carry disease.

I guess that the only real winners in this case will be the lawyers!

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The subsequent independent report published on 15th June was widely reported as being critical of both the Health Protection Agency and the farm:

“A “substantial” number of E.coli cases could have been prevented if health chiefs had responded quickly to an outbreak at a petting farm, a damning report said today. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) missed a key opportunity to take action which would have restricted the size of the outbreak at Godstone Farm, near Redhill, Surrey, last year” (The Independent)
St George’s University of London press release about the findings of Professor George Griffin who led the investigation

IPID annual conference: 9th-10th September in Barcelona

The IPID annual conferences have become one of the major global events for young researchers in the field of ICT4D to share their experiences. This year’s conference is being hosted by the Open University of Catalonia and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia on 9th and 10th September 201o and will be held at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain: