Germany has a special responsibility when it comes to cooperation with Namibia. The state of Baden-Württemberg assumes this responsibility within the framework of the Namibia initiative. Already since 2020, the University of Stuttgart has been in close contact with the NUST regarding the implementation of the global sustainable development goals in the field of urban planning. In the project “GoGlocal!“, which is funded by the Ministry of Science in Baden-Württemberg and deals with the relevance of the sustainable development goals at the municipal and neighborhood levels, the Institute of Urban Planning and Design (SI) and the Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use (IER) brought together various stakeholders from science and society in Stuttgart and Windhoek. In addition, the “SDGs GoGlocal!” project between the University of Stuttgart, the NUST, and the Ain Shams University in Cairo has been in existence since 2023. The project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service and focuses on topics of sustainability as part of the university education of future architects and urban planners.
A partnership for further joint projects
With the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), the NUST and the University of Stuttgart have officially strengthened their successful international cooperation. Professor Silke Wieprecht, Vice Rector for Diversity and Internationalization of the University of Stuttgart, emphasizes: “With the signing of the MoU, we have sent an important signal to start and advance joint projects with the Namibia University of Science and Technology in research and teaching.“
Dr. Phillip Lühl, Head of the “School of the Built Environment” of the Namibia University of Science and Technology, points out: “The new partnership with the University of Stuttgart is a great asset to the NUST, since it anchors our very application-oriented development work in informal settlements in the field of sustainable development goals, which has become ever more present as a subject of international research. Furthermore, the expansion of this partnership with the Ain Shams University in Cairo establishes an important South-South axis that is indispensable in this subject area.“
At the University of Stuttgart, there are almost 400 international partnerships so far, and cooperation with higher education institutions in Africa, in particular, is to be enhanced within the framework of the internationalization strategy.
The Namibia University of Science and Technology is a young higher education institution that was created in 2015 from the Polytechnic of Namibia. The local education of future architects and urban planners in the Department of Architecture, Planning and Construction has existed since 2010 and is significantly advancing the topic of urban planning, especially with regard to co-productive collaboration with civil society partners and local authorities for the sustainable development and upgrading of informal settlements.