About Us - Intra Africa CB4EE

Intra Africa CB4EE

1. Transforming Engineering Education in Africa for a Sustainable Future

Engineering work contributes towards the attainment and achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The quality of engineering graduates acts as an enabler for ethical and responsible development. The focus of this project is on developing transformative research capacities and the co-creation of ACTIONABLE knowledge to inform and support systemic change needed for engineering educator development and integration of modern global challenges. Schools and departments of engineering around the world are reconsidering their academic curricula with respect to climate change challenges from a research-led educational perspective.

Currently, African institutions are lagging in this regard. Any transformation (for example, climate change mitigation or any other systemic change for a safe, just and sustainable future) will require a clear and comprehensive overview of the African context to highlight challenges in the engineering education field that might hinder effective integration of climate change knowledge into the Engineering Education in Africa. Strengthening human capacity within engineering education practice and engineering education research becomes imperative to ensure engineering educators are equipped with the knowledge to develop the skills required for “green jobs” which are under-emphasised within their current training.

The CB4EE Intra-Africa mobility project and funding opportunity provides a unique chance to address this gap by leveraging existing expertise within Africa, through the partner universities such as the University of Cape Town Centre for Research in Engineering Education (CREE), and the University of Pretoria’s integrated curriculum project. Learn more about the Intra-Africa Mobility Scheme on the official Intra-Africa website. Other partner universities that make up the consortium of the project are, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda, Murang’a University of Technology, Kenya, Strathmore University, Kenya, University of Lagos, Nigeria and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.

By fostering collaboration among these African universities and promoting research in Engineering Education Research (EER), this project seeks to drive positive change and internationalisation in engineering education within the continent.

By capitalising on this opportunity, engineers from African countries can broaden their perspectives, gain exposure to international best practices, and contribute to the advancement of engineering education at a global level.

2. Overcoming Challenges in Engineering Education Recognition and Development in Africa

One of the critical challenges faced by Africa is the lack of recognition of Engineering Education as a research field, except for South Africa.

In most African countries, engineering education is not acknowledged as a discipline or a field of research, leading to a lack of institutional support for engineering educators to engage in educational activities and develop their expertise in this area. This absence of recognition hampers the progress and development of engineering education in the region.

However, there have been recent signs of progress that are encouraging. Innovative initiatives in engineering education have emerged across Africa, encompassing curriculum development and advancements in teaching and learning methodologies.

Furthermore, academia-industry collaborations have increased, largely driven by international funding organisations. These initiatives, although promising, are often small-scale and isolated, making it challenging for them to have a significant impact on engineering education due to limited resources, existing policies, and institutional structures.

There is inadequate capacity of engineering educators who in addition to having mastered engineering content, are also knowledgeable in pedagogy/andragogy, and have the relevant skills needed to innovate their curricula by applying educational research. This supports evidence-based decision-making to improve engineering education within Africa. This shortage impedes sustainable growth and development of engineering education initiatives as well as long term curriculum transformation capable of serving local and regional social and professional needs. This project and funding opportunity can play a pivotal role in driving the recognition, development, and internationalisation of engineering education in Africa.

Partner Universities

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.