The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities (The Guild) have launched a new Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoRE) on Creative Economies: Cultures, Innovation and Sustainability, which includes Rhodes University.

This is a direct response to the formal launch of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda, which acknowledged the importance of research and education – including in the social sciences and humanities – for achieving the EU’s Global Gateway strategy and the AU’s Agenda 2063. The new Clusters join the Africa-Europe CoREs launched by both networks last June, bringing the total number of Clusters up to 20, now involving over 250 researchers in 60 Universities as well as research institutes.

The new CoRE on ‘Creative Economies: Cultures, Innovation and Sustainability’ aims to support the development of more equitable, innovative and sustainable creative economies, in a sector that has been recognised for its potential to contribute up to 10% of global GDP by 2030. Co-led by Duro Oni (University of Lagos), Jen Snowball (Rhodes University), and Roberta Comunian and Eka Ikpe (King’s College London), the Cluster brings together cultural policy organisations and university researchers from across Africa and Europe.

Commenting on the launch, Jan Palmowski (The Guild) said: ‘At this particular time, when European discourse about Africa is increasingly dominated again by migration and crisis, it is more critical than ever to show how Europeans and Africans can only progress by addressing our common challenges together, in real partnership.”