Regional Workshop in Germany 2006
The regional workshop in Germany was held on June 27, 2006, in Bonn with stake-holders from 9 different organisations active in economic co-operation with and support of developing countries. The aim of the workshop was to increase the awareness of the organisations with regard to the specific role of universities in developing countries. The workshop was introduced by two presentations on the chances and limitations of knowledge-based strategies in developing countries. The following discussion showed that the attendants saw an increasing relevance of universities in developing countries and agreed on the need of a more pronounced support. An inventory of the existing instruments revealed that at present, the most effective instrument is the support of students and researchers from developing countries working in German research insti-tutions, in particular in universities. Furthermore new possibilities exist to support re-search projects in developing countries on-site. The attendants considered this ap-proach as very promising and see the necessity of a stronger focus on this type of sup-port. A substantial problem is still the general support of institutions in developing coun-tries without a link to specific research projects. This requires a reorientation of the pol-icy of German support institutions, on the one hand, but also a clear request from the site of the partner countries, on the other hand. Furthermore, the workshop showed a good potential of an improved co-ordination of the different German organisation en-gaged in the co-operation with developing countries in the field of research activities.
