The open access book is concerned with transnational cooperation in Higher Education, especially among universities of the Global South and the Global North, and how it can contribute to promoting sustainable development. It reflects on the opportunities and the challenges of this type of cooperation by showcasing the implementation of a specific international academic program: The Sustainable Development Goals Graduate Schools (SDG GS) Program run by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Written by representatives of the different SDG GS, the chapters focus on the implementation and management aspects of the transnational academic partnerships. With the hands-on experience of the authors, the book provides rich insights into the building processes, challenges, and achievements of transnational sustainability cooperation in Higher Education.
Dr. Bettina Schorr holds a PhD in Political Science from the Universität zu Köln, Germany. She is a lecturer at the Institute for Latin American Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, and the program director of trAndeS - Advanced Studies on Inequalities and Sustainable Development. Her work focuses on institution-building in extractive economies, environmental policies and socio-environmental conflicts in the Andean region. She is the author of various research articles and books, including "Andean States and the Resource Curse: Institution Building in Extractive Economies" (2021, with G. Damonte) and "Environmental vs. Economic Concerns in Bolivia: Does Support for Extractivism Affect Environmental Concern? (2024, with C. Marull).
Prof. Dr. Esteban Mejia is head of the Polymer Chemistry and Catalysis Group at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) in Rostock, Germany, and coordinator of the SDG Graduate School RoHan Rostock-Hanoi: Catalysis as Key towards Sustainable Resource Management. He obtained his master's degree in polymer chemistry from the National University of Colombia and completed his PhD in homogeneous catalysis at ETH Zurich. After joining LIKAT in 2012 as a postdoctoral researcher, he became a senior scientist and earned his habilitation at the University of Rostock in 2020. In 2023, he was appointed Visiting Professor at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology. His research integrates homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, photochemistry, organometallic chemistry, polymer and materials science, with a strong focus on sustainability and circular chemistry.
Dr. Christian Brandt is Project Coordinator at the Institute of Farm Management, University of Hohenheim. He co-leads the German-Ethiopian CLIFOOD research and training programme, which examines how climate change shapes food security. Trained as a biologist and holding a PhD in Agricultural Sciences from Hohenheim, he focused on compound-specific stable-isotope analysis to quantify soil erosion and has also conducted research on land-use change and nutrient cycling. His work with FAO/IAEA projects and partners in Vietnam and Ethiopia links laboratory innovation with on-farm decision support, and appears in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Geoderma, and Agriculture. In this volume he co-edits and co-authors the chapter detailing CLIFOOD's lessons for internationally networked graduate education.
