The Summit aimed to explore collaboration opportunities in international development and global challenges research in North East area and beyond, the event was held in collaboration with Northumbria University and Durham University.

The agenda was divided into five parts, started with Personal Reflections on International Development session in the morning, chaired by Professor Pauline Dixon from Newcastle University. Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, was one of the speakers in this first session; along with Founder of Beauty of Rwanda, Salha Kaitesi, and the COO and Vice President of WBCSD, Peter White.

Representatives of COCO Charity, Springfield Centre, Team Kenya and Traidcraft were the panels in the second session - Thinking across Sectors, moderated by Professor Matt Baillie Smith from Northumbria University. Delegates also presented about ODA-Research Funding Landscape - delivered by Rachael Sara-Kennedy, the Head of International Partnerships of Universities UK International, before listening to brief research presentations in the Pecha Kucha session.

For the final session, CoLaboratories, delegates had the opportunity to discuss collaboration opportunities and working together for international development, before heading to Northumbria University for evening reception and enjoy ‘Volunteers in Conflicts and Emergencies’ exhibition, part of the 2018 Great Exhibition of the North.

“I was honoured to be part of the Summit. But most importantly, it was great to see so many people from different countries and organisations to come together and discuss solutions that will not only make our planet better, but also sustainable”, told Salha Kaitesi, one of the Summit speakers who is also an intern in Newcastle University’s Global Challenges Academy.

This kind of event definitely should be more promoted in the future, as many people said that they are interested in this kind of issue but they don’t know much about the information”, Salha added.

Conversations about Global Challenges Summit 2018 can be followed online through hashtag #GCSummitNE18 on Twitter. For more info about global challenges and international development research by Newcastle University, please visit Global Challenges Academy website at https://www.ncl.ac.uk/globalchallenges/.

You can also join the conversation on Twitter through #NCLGlobalChallenges.