Africawatch Special Report – Gabon-Oregon Cooperation: A Unique Collaboration for Progress
The UDL’s work in Gabon has been featured in this October’s issue of Africawatch! Read more below:
Article:
Simply referred to as the Gabon-Oregon Center (GOC), the University of Oregon’s Gabon-Oregon Transnational Research Center on Environment and Development was established in March 2013 with the primary purpose of developing collaborative research and public outreach partnerships between the U.S. state of Oregon and the Republic of Gabon.
Although this partnership may seem similar to other U.S.-global agreements, it is unique. For example, it links scholars, students and practitioners in Gabon and Oregon for the utilization of comparative analytical methods to address urgent sustainable development challenges specific to Gabon and Oregon.
Furthermore, the GOC’s uniqueness also lies in the fact that it has two bona fide executive directors with equal administrative status, one based in Eugene, Oregon, and the other operating from the Gabonese capital of Libreville.
The center has employees simultaneously working in the Gabonese capital and on the campus of University of Oregon (UO) in Eugene.
The executive directors, who possess equal status in rank and functions are: Francis Bivigou, a biomedical engineer and researcher in Libreville, and Eric Benjaminson, a retired U.S. diplomat and former ambassador to Gabon, who is serving in a similar capacity at the Eugene office.
The GOC has been designed to ensure a true North-South partnership in the development of applied research on sustainable developmental challenges.
Since its establishment in March 2013, the Gabon-Oregon Center has expanded its overall activities in a genuine progressive and collaborative spirit, including mutual student and faculty exchanges. For example, a delegation of university officials and students from Omar Bongo University (UOB) in Libreville was hosted in June 2014 on the Eugene campus of the University of Oregon. They came to familiarize themselves with the activities of the center. While in Eugene, members of the delegation interacted with Eugene students in UO’s Urban Design Lab. They were joined by a representative of the Agence Nationale des Grands Travaux, the Gabonese Public Works Agency, which has been actively involved in the project. ANGT has funded part of the Center’s Urban Sustainability Program.
The foregoing events were a reciprocal gesture, as there were earlier visits to Gabon in the Spring of 2014 by Oregon faculty, students and scientific colleagues, a presence that enabled the Eugene visitors to help with promoting several key Gabon-Oregon programs….. [described in further detail in the article].
MAJOR AND INNOVATIVE GABON-OREGON CENTER PROJECTS
… Also, under the leadership of Zoe Anton, program manager of the Urban Sustainability Program, a master plan has been designed for the regeneration of the Omar Bongo University (UOB) campus in collaboration with UO, the Urban Design Lab of the University of Oregon (UDL) and ANGT.
Consequently, in January 2014, there was a visit to Gabon by students and faculty from UO’s Urban Design Lab and, between June 9 and 14, 2014, an additional five of UO Lab’s students traveled to Libreville accompanied by faculty supervisors Dr. Mark Gillem and Barry Gordon for the purpose of organizing a second workshop at Omar Bongo University.
A group of nine Gabonese students working with the design and planning processes as part of the team were in Eugene in June. There are subsequent plans for the Fall of 2014 for UDL students and faculty from UO to return to UOB for a final presentation with all collaborators. The foregoing events helped in cementing the working relationship between University of Oregon – represented by it visiting faculty and students – and Omar Bongo University; events which helped to bring about the formal signing of a memorandum of understanding between both institutions, which was blessed with the financial support of the Government of Gabon. There is also a plan funded by ANGT for the renovation of the UOB campus in Libreville.
A priority focus of the entire program is for the partnership to elevate Omar Bongo University into a sustainable and innovative institution representative of modern African design.
As recently as June, a senior delegation from UOB arrived on the Eugene campus as part of the innovative plans for strengthening formal relationship between UO and UOB. The delegation of five, led by UOB Law School dean on behalf of the rector included the dean of the UOB College of Arts and Sciences. The delegation attended the final review session organized by the Urban Sustainability Program, after which the leading Gabonese educational leaders paid visits to officials of the UO-based Sustainable Cities Initiative, the UO Law School, AEI and the department of biology and geography.
For the formal setup of the Gabon-Oregon Center, a delegation from the University of Oregon, led by the equity and inclusion vice-president, dr. Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh, who was accompanied by the University of Oregon Foundation chief investment officer, Jay Namyet, international affairs vice provost, Dennis Galvan, and associate vice president for international advancement, John Manotti, traveled in Fall 2012 to the Gabonese capital of Libreville to sign an agreement with the country’s minister of higher education.
Link to full article (PDF):
Gabon-Oregon Cooperation: A Unique Collaboration for Progress