SANORD 2025

Knowledge Economies in a Changing World

About the conference

The global knowledge economy is undergoing profound transformations in response to shifting world orders, geopolitical realignments, and the growing impacts of climate change. These shifts challenge traditional academic collaborations between African and European universities, while new alliances and emerging powers, offer both opportunities and complexities. As these dynamics evolve, questions of equity, decoloniality, and the role of higher education in fostering just and sustainable futures come to the fore.

The Knowledge Economies in a Changing World conference seeks to gather scholars, practitioners, and students to engage with critical issues around the changing landscape of global knowledge economies. It will provide a platform to interrogate the role of universities in navigating these transitions, advancing decolonial agendas, and fostering new forms of partnership and innovation.

Themes for the conference

We aim to explore a wide array of topics including, but not limited to:

Global Shifts and New Alliances: How are traditional partnerships between African and Western universities being reshaped by emerging global powers? What are the implications for academic collaboration and knowledge production in this new era?

Decolonial Knowledge Production: What does it mean to decolonize knowledge in a world where old and new forms of inequality persist? How can universities contribute to building more equitable knowledge economies?

Universities as Agents of Change: What new roles can universities play in addressing global challenges such as climate change, economic inequality, and sustainable development? How can they foster innovation that is locally grounded and globally relevant?
Building a Resilient and Functional Future for Nature and People. How can we foster ecosystems that balance biodiversity, ecological integrity, and human well-being in a rapidly changing world? This theme explores integrated strategies for sustainable land use, biodiversity connectivity, and urban resilience, highlighting the role of innovative policies, One Health principles, and nature-based solutions in shaping a resilient future.

Power and Knowledge:How can higher education institutions navigate and challenge entrenched power dynamics between academic elites and marginalized communities? Whose knowledge is recognized, and what is at stake in the struggle over intellectual capital in post-colonial contexts?

Brain Drain, Brain Gain, and Knowledge Flows: How do global movements of talent and knowledge impact local economies and academic ecosystems? How can universities engage productively with these flows to enhance both local and global knowledge production?

This conference offers an interdisciplinary platform to critically examine these themes and engage in discussions that consider new possibilities for higher education in shaping a more just and equitable world. We invite submissions for oral presentations, symposia, panel discussions, and roundtable sessions that explore these questions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.