SDG-Graduate School Performing Sustainability. Cultures and Development in West Africa has officially launched the second phase of the project.

Speaking at the virtual launch, Professor Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast charged the partners of the SDG School to work towards achieving academic sustainability, especially in the area of research and capacity building. She congratulated the scholarship holders and encouraged them to make the best out of the Covid-19 situation to make the desired impact in their respective countries and the entire continent of Africa.  She pledged the UCC’s unflinching support for the project.

Professor Dr. May-Britt Kallenrode, President of the University of Hildesheim noted that the SGD Graduate School project is the biggest funded project in the university. She expressed optimism that the scientific training given to the scholarship holders focusing on cultural sustainability and sustainable development would bring about the revival of communities.

For his part, Prof. Dr. Aliyu Shugaba, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri intimated that the SDG School identifies problems, researches, and finds lasting solutions to them. He described the collaboration as mutually beneficial for the three universities and pledged his continuous support to ensure the sustainability of the project at his university.

The other dignitaries that participated at the ceremony include the Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies (Prof Francis E. Amuquando), Dean, School of Graduate Studies and Research (Prof. Sarah Darkwa), and the Director for the Center for International and African Studies, UCC (Dr. Alex J. Wilson).

Director of the SDG-GS, Hildesheim (Prof. Raimund Vogels), Director of SDG-GS, Maiduguri (Prof. Saliba Adams).

Others are the Past Steering Committee Members of the SDG-GS (Prof. Simon Mariwah and Dr. Patrick Osei-Kufuor), former Coordinator of SDG-GS (Dr. Eyram E. K. Fiagbedzi)

The SDG-GS in UCC coordinated by Dr. Sabina Appiah-Boateng, with Prof. Florian Carl (Department of Music and Dance) as Director. The Steering Committee members are Prof. Sarah Darkwa (Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, UCC) Dr. Eric Debrah Otchere (Head, Department of Music and Dance), and Dr. Theresea Addai-Mununkum (Department of English).

The SDG Graduate School (SDG-GS) Performing Sustainability is an interdisciplinary collaborative training network for graduate students of the University of Cape Coast (Ghana), University of Hildesheim (Germany), and University of Maiduguri (Nigeria).  It is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and focuses on the overlapping areas of Culture, Arts, Conflict, and Sustainable Development.

Since its inception in 2016, the SDG-GS has successfully produced 11 Ph.D. and 12 Masters scholars, from Ghana and Nigeria.

The current cohort of students in the SDG-GS comprises 6 Ph.D. students at the University of Cape Coast, with 6 Ph.D., and 6 MA students at the University of Maiduguri.