South African Science Day Conference
A 10-year celebration of the SA-Flanders cooperation was held in Cape Town from 13 to 15 March 2006, to reflect on the concluded bilateral S&T projects, representing R8.8 million invested by South Africa, and €5.7 million from Flanders. In addition to the investment, seminars and workshops were held. Ninety-seven projects were supported under the SA-Flanders programme within the following thematic areas: Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Health and Medicine, Economic Sciences, Agriculture and the Environment, and Natural and Social Sciences. This allowed the creation of networks and facilitated the generation of new knowledge as well as its dissemination. The strong partnership that has been built between the research communities of the two countries allowed for the exploration of a new strategy for future cooperation, which placed emphasis on research areas such as Astronomy and Polar Research.
The most recent development in strengthening the partnership has been the hosting of the South African Day in Brussels on 26 April 2007. The event was designed to introduce European partners to South Africa's most exciting flagship research and development (R&D) and innovation programmes, across a rich array of disciplines, ranging from Space Sciences to Social Sciences and Nuclear Energy research.
The event also focused on promoting and improving the Seventh Framework Programme instruments (FP7) of the EU. The past instances of cooperation were reviewed, including success stories from more than 120 Sixth Framework Programme projects in which South Africa had participated and the many bilateral cooperation initiatives between South Africa and European countries. The event was a success from the point of view of showcasing South African science, technology and innovation systems and the enhanced cooperative links that were forged between the science communities of both countries.
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