"Culture, Religion and Development": Education and Responsibility in a Multipolar World

With the online format "Culture, Religion and Development", the KAAD offers space for exchange on topics that combine education, science and social responsibility several times a year. The series was initiated and is managed by Nils Fischer, Head of the Middle East Division, who conceived it as a platform for interdisciplinary exchange. As part of this series, Prof. Dr. Andreas Bürkert, Head of the Section for Organic Crop Production and Agroecosystem Research in the Tropics and Subtropics at the University of Kassel, spoke about "New challenges for international education in a multipolar world". He has been closely associated with KAAD for many years through shared academic concerns and exchanges on issues of global educational cooperation.

The starting point for his lecture was the observation that poverty, infrastructural deficits, strong population growth and weak government structures are among the central challenges facing many African countries. Using examples from Ghana and Niger, Andreas Bürkert showed how these factors are linked in complex ways to migration, resource use and global dependencies. Illegal gold mining in West Africa – such as the so-called 'galamsey' in Ghana – is an expression of a deep social and ecological crisis: destroyed soils, polluted rivers, loss of land and unequal distribution of profits are just as much a part of this as the pressure of international markets. Andreas Bürkert illustrated the effects of these developments with pictures from his research projects in the Sahel. Overexploitation, erosion and soil depletion are leading to the destruction of livelihoods in many regions and, as a result, to migration movements, which in turn cause new conflicts. In this area of conflict, it is clear that education and research play a central role in sustainable development: They must combine knowledge with a sense of responsibility and open up ways for young people to shape their future and that of their home countries.

In his analysis, Andreas Bürkert broadened his view beyond Africa. The increasing multipolarity of the world, in which China, Russia and other players are forming new alliances in Africa and Asia, is also calling into question Western models of development, democracy and partnership. In light of the fact that Western values have not proven themselves in all areas, he spoke of a "post-colonial crisis of Western values and institutions" and warned against a purely economic view of cooperation. Instead, a new understanding of partnership is needed that is not rooted in teaching, but in joint learning. Research must transcend both geographical and disciplinary boundaries while remaining locally anchored. Truly sustainable solutions emerge in dialog with the people on the ground. 

The ensuing discussion revealed the diversity of perspectives that characterizes the KAAD network: participants from Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia spoke about the tensions between economic growth, social justice and ecological responsibility. Particularly from countries in the Global South, there were powerful contributions on the consequences of land grabbing, environmental destruction and extractivist economic models. The question of how sustainable development can be achieved if political and economic power structures remain shaped by colonial patterns was repeatedly asked.

Andreas Bürkert took up these impulses and pleaded for a self-critical attitude on the part of the Global North. Responsibility, he emphasized, begins with the recognition of one's own role in global inequalities, for example in the consumption of resources, in climate policy or in the shaping of educational cooperation. At the same time, he emphasized the need to take local forms of knowledge seriously and to understand education not only as a technical project, but also as an ethical one. Education must enable people to shape their environment and at the same time awaken openness to other perspectives.

In the course of the debate, the insight that international cooperation cannot exist without mutual learning became more and more apparent. It was emphasized several times that research and teaching must address the reality of people's lives and that 'stewardship', i.e. responsibility for land, community and future, should remain a common leitmotif. In this context, Andreas Bürkert spoke of the 'education of the heart': science must not only increase knowledge, but also build character.

With 77 participants from 26 countries – including many doctoral candidates from the Global South – it became clear that international cooperation in the KAAD network thrives on personal commitment and institutional support in equal measure. Nils Fischer put this in a nutshell in terms of the work of the KAAD: only the interaction of both levels opens up the prospect of a better world for all: caring for the common home ("Laudato Si'"). Andreas Bürkert then emphasized the importance of local responsibility: academic experience can provide inspiration, but viable solutions are always developed in exchange with the local people who are directly affected by the respective challenges. In conclusion, he recalled personalities such as Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela, who are exemplary of education in the service of the common good. According to Andreas Bürkert, education must not only produce experts, but also personalities and future leaders who take responsibility for a fairer world. The discussion showed that international cooperation gains depth when it goes beyond institutional structures and includes personal responsibility and mutual understanding.