International Projects

Project: African Union–EU Relations, Regional Partnerships for Actorness in Effective Global Governance, AURORA

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The Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation  (GovInn)  and the European Studies Association of Sub-Saharan Africa ( ESA-SSA ) in the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and the Institute of African Studies  Carleton University , Canada, are pleased to announce AURORA. This project seeks to explore ways to increase diversity within the field of European Studies through a series of events, research collaborations and publications.

• Gather scholars from diverse intellectual disciplines, professionals, and practitioners to examine regional trade agreements, the African Continental Free Trade Area and Africa’s engagement with the EU in international affairs
• Draw comparative lessons and parallels from Africa Union and European Union.
• Consolidate international networks to add value and provide comparative knowledge on free trade areas, especially from the EU.
• Introduce local students to the African Union, European Union and increase the level of their engagement in African Union, European Union and regionalism issues to ensure continuity into the future.

Wurin ta na yin rubutu - Advanced Scholars

Principal Investigator:  Nduka Otiono 

Group Social Media:  Twitter ;  QES-AS-WA website 

Wurin Ta Na Yin Rubutu will enable 17 women from West Africa who are PhD candidates, Early Career Researchers and/or Post-Docs to participate in research training and research placements facilitated by Carleton University, coordinated by the Institute of African Studies (IAS) and collaborating with placement partners in West and Central Africa and Canada from 2021-2024. Philosophically envisioned, the African title (in the Hausa language, widely spoken in West Africa), means “her own room to write,” the project is wholly women centred as women may experience disadvantages in completing the requirements for the PhD and early career advancement due to institutional prejudice and cultural barriers to finding the time and space to work. 

First created in 2014 to improve global talent exchange between Canada and other nations, the QES program aims to develop the next generation of innovative leaders and community builders by providing enriched academic, professional and cross-cultural experiences and by facilitating lasting local and global community engagement.

The project is led by Nduka Otiono, a distinguished scholar in Carleton’s Institute of African Studies in collaboration with various African partners. It’s called Wurin ta na yin rubutu, meaning her own room to write.

Funder:  Universities Canada 

Partners:  Institute of African Studies ;  IMPACT-Partnership Africa ;  CODE ;  Africa-Canada Chamber of Commerce and Aisha Ibrahim ;  Fourah Bay College at the University of Sierra Leone 

Metrics Working Group (MWG) for Lancet-SIGHT Commission on Peace, Justice, Gender Equality and Transformation of Institutions for Healthy Societies

Principal Investigator:  Valerie Percival 

The Metrics Working Group will build an empirical evidence base that will enable the broader Commission to interrogate the relationships among health equity, gender equity and societal peacefulness. Filling these knowledge gaps requires reliable indicators to assess current realities and monitor changes over time, as well as an understanding of how these indicators are embedded within broader social and economic contexts.

We will build this empirical evidence by identifying assessing existing indicators, mapping those indicators against research questions, and compiling and analyzing this data at the regional and global levels, as well as through case studies. To fill specific knowledge gaps, the MWG will engage with specific consultants to strengthen this empirical evidence base in key areas.

The MWG key outputs will be the creation of an empirical evidence baseline, that highlights the relationships among health equity, gender equity and fragility/peace. This baseline will inform the analysis, conclusions and recommendations of the broader Lancet Commission.

Funder:  IDRC 

Partners:  IDRC ;  Sight Sweden ;  Lancet Commission 

Quantifying marginal societal health benefits of transportation emission reductions in the United States and Canada

Principle Investigator:  Amir Hakami 

Marginal damage (MD) of a pollutant or a pollution precursor is defined as the incremental monetizeddamage associated with emitting an additional unit mass (often a metric ton) of that pollutant. Conversely,marginal benefit (MB), also referred to as benefit-per-ton (BPT) by the US EPA, is the same monetizedbenefit from reducing emissions of that pollutant by a metric ton. MB or BPT is an invaluable decisionmetric as it provides a direct comparison with the cost of emissions control, and thus streamlines thebenefit-cost analysis of policy items and facilitates the design of cost-effective measures.

We propose to create a database of sector- and location-specific BPT estimations in Canada and the USfor a recent year, as a measure of the societal benefits associated with reducing emissions from varioussources. Estimation of BPTs will be focused on monetization of avoided mortality due to reduced chronic(annual) exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5), O3, and NO2.

Funder:  Health Effects Institute 

Partners:  Georgia Institute of Technology ;  Emory University ;  Resources for the Future 

Gendered Design in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Math) Africa

Principal Investigator:  Bjarki Hallgrimsson  &  Dominique Marshall 

Group Social Media:  Twitter 

The overall objective of the GDS program is:

To build capacity for research, design and dissemination of gendered innovations in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics (STEAM), addressing challenges predominantly faced by women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Responding to gaps in gendered design and innovation research, the GDS program aims to:

• Connect, expand and enhance the community of experts and innovators in gendered design, particularly in LMICs;

• Support LMIC researchers in conducting research case studies on current and past gendered innovations, and in designing gendered projects, driven by local interests ;

• Make gender challenges in the design of technologies and processes more visible to researchers, designers and innovators, particularly in LMICs.

Funders:  International Development Research Centre (IDRC) ;  Carleton University 

Partners: Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA); Universidade Estadual Paulista, (UNESP); Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ); Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano, (UTADEO); Universidade Federal de Alagoas (FAU/UFAL); Fundação de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (FADE-UFPE); Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP); Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL); Middle East Technical University (METU); Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS); Multimedia University (MMU); Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM); Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM); Addis Ababa University; University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR); University of Uyo; Lagos State University; Edo State Polytechnic Usen; University of Mauritius; University of Rwanda; University of Dar es Salaam

Evaluation of Refugee-Led Organizations in East Africa and the Middle East

Principal Investigator:  James Milner 

Group Social Media:  Facebook ;  Twitter ;  LinkedIn ;  Work Website 

The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) at Carleton University and the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) at the University of Oxford are carrying out a longitudinal study to understand the factors that influence the impact of refugee-led organisations (RLOs) as service-delivery providers in humanitarian settings in East Africa and the Middle East. In the context of the Coronavirus pandemic, when international actors are limited in their mobility and access, RLOs are increasingly becoming frontline responders that provide vital assistance to displaced communities.

Funders:  Open Societies Foundation ,  Robert Bosch Stiftung ,  Rockefeller Brothers Fund  and  RSF Social Finance 

Partners:  Centre for Lebanese Studies ;  Refugee Studies Centre (Oxford)  in East Africa; Country-related coordinators

Innovation, talent, work, business and industry post-pandemic

Jean Monnet Network on Transatlantic Trade Politics

Principal Investigator:  Achim Hurrelmann 

Group Social Media:  Twitter 

Which factors make some trade agreements politically contentious, while others hardly register in public debates? Which provisions become flashpoints of contestation, and why? Which types of actors and discourses drive mobilization?

The Jean Monnet Network on Transatlantic Trade Politics addresses these questions with a particular focus on trade relationships across the North Atlantic. The network builds on previous research cooperation between many of the participating scholars.

Funders:  European Commission ;  Carleton University 

Partners: University of Antwerp; Bates College; Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS); University of Warwick

Bio-inspired Robotic Manipulation for Grappling Space Debris

Principal Investigator:  Alex Ellery 

Professor Ellery in Carleton’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and former Canada Research Chair in Space Robotics and Space Technology is looking to supply humanity with a number of tools that may help us take our next giant leap into the final frontier.

As part of a three-year joint-initiative with McGill University, Ellery has begun developing a specialized drill and instrumentation system that will allow planetary rovers to extract core samples from Mars’ polar ice caps and ultimately test for evidence of life.

Funder:  European Space Agency 

Partner: McGill University

Continental Forum on Diaspora in Higher Education, Research, and Innovation in African 2019

Principal Investigator:  L. Pauline Rankin  

Cognizant of the challenges facing higher education across Africa, the forum was conceptualized to provide operational follow-up to the Dakar Summit of 2015 from the specific perspective of African diaspora engagement by enabling dialogue and effective collaboration with the governments and peoples of different regions of the world where the diasporas are located and among various stakeholders in the higher education sector on the Continent.

The forum commissioned research papers to evaluate past and current African Diaspora interventions and other regional educational strategies that were working or needed improvement and to investigate related policy and resource mobilization issues in selected African countries and analyzed experiences of certain countries in Asia and Europe with academic diaspora engagement.

The forum issued a blueprint for facilitating support for a unified approach to interventions from local and international in support of the AU’s education strategy for Africa through diaspora participation, and exploited the synergy already created by the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s significant investments in African Higher Education and that of the African Union’s manifold visions and frameworks for Higher Education on the Continent. The forum was attened by eighty-five participants from 26 Countries.

Funder:  Carnegie Corporation of New York 

Partners from 26 Countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. Other states represented included Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, United Kingdom and United States of America.

 Executive Summary 

 Full Proceedings 

 Forum Website 

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