Partners & Networks

 

Partners & Networks

Why partners matter to AIBIA

AIBIA’s work is built on long-term relationships. Our Living Labs and Think Tank are intentionally small and grounded, but they are connected to a growing constellation of universities, research networks, and community organizations.

Partnerships for us are not just about logos on a page. They are about:

  • co-designing education and research that is rooted in real places,

  • sharing responsibility and resources across regions,

  • and building a transregional community around critical, decolonial, and prefigurative approaches to education and development.

This page introduces some of our key institutional partners and networks.

Core Academic Partners

These are universities with whom we are actively co-developing field schools, SDG-focused collaborations, and long-term teaching and research links.

University of Münster (Germany)

The University of Münster, and in particular its Department of Geography and related units, is a central partner in AIBIA’s internationalization and SDG-focused work.

Together we are:

  • developing multi-year field schools and mobility programs that link Germany with AIBIA’s Living Labs in Sierra Leone and Italy,

  • co-designing a transregional SDG Partnerships project that foregrounds decolonial pedagogy, experiential learning, and grassroots democracy,

  • and working toward a longer-term vision of joint teaching programs (including the prospect of a future Erasmus Mundus-style master’s trajectory).

Münster is a key academic home for AIBIA’s critical reimaginative work in Europe.

University of Makeni – UniMak (Sierra Leone)

The University of Makeni (UniMak) is the first private Catholic university in Sierra Leone and a leading institution in the country’s educational landscape.

For AIBIA, UniMak is:

Our work together centers on:

  • community-based education, ICT and digital inclusion,

  • joint curriculum and program development connected to AIBIA’s Sierra Leone Living Lab,

  • and shared research on education, development, and grassroots democratic practices.

University of the West Indies – UWI (Jamaica / Caribbean)

The University of the West Indies (UWI) is a regional public university serving 18 English-speaking Caribbean countries, with multiple campuses including Mona (Jamaica), which hosts world-class programs and research across disciplines.

Within AIBIA’s work, UWI is:

  • a key partner in our transregional SDG initiative connecting Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Italy, and Germany,

  • the anchor institution for field schools and Living Lab-style collaborations in the Caribbean,

  • and a crucial intellectual home for decolonial, postcolonial, and Caribbean critical thought within AIBIA’s Think Tank.

University of Perugia (Italy)

The University of Perugia is one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1308, and a major public university in central Italy.

For AIBIA, UniPG is:

  • a strategic Italian partner in rural and inner-areas focused education,

  • a collaborator for student mobility, field-based teaching, and joint courses connected to the Italy Living Lab in Molise,

  • and a bridge between established Italian academia and experimental, community-rooted educational models.

Together we are working to create pathways that allow students and staff to move between Perugia and Roccavivara, and to integrate inner areas into international teaching and research.

University of Montana (USA)

The University of Montana in Missoula is a public R1 research university known for its emphasis on experiential learning and engagement with landscape, environment, and community.

Within AIBIA’s broader global vision, UM is:

  • a partner for North American participation in field schools and Living Lab programs,

  • a potential co-host for joint courses and exchanges that connect Montana’s landscapes and struggles with those of Molise and Sierra Leone,

  • and part of our effort to link alternative education experiments across different peripheries of the Global North and South.

Additional European Partners (in development)

Alongside the core institutions above, AIBIA is developing collaborations with other European universities, including:

  • University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln, Germany) – a major research university with strong social science and humanities programs and a long-standing commitment to internationalization and sustainability.

  • Other European partners engaged in geography, anthropology, development, and social movement studies.

These partnerships are part of our long-term goal of building a multi-node, cooperative educational network rather than a single “center.”

Transregional SDG Partnership Cluster

Several of the partners above come together in our emerging SDG Partnerships cluster, centered on:

  • University of Münster (Germany)

  • University of Makeni – UniMak (Sierra Leone)

  • University of the West Indies – UWI (Caribbean, especially Jamaica)

  • AIBIA (Sierra Leone / Italy / New York)

  • Additional supporting institutions (e.g. University of Perugia and others)

This cluster focuses on:

  • quality education (SDG 4),

  • reduced inequalities and inclusive institutions (SDGs 10 & 16),

  • sustainable communities and livelihoods (SDGs 11 & 8),

  • and climate, land, and food systems (SDGs 2, 12, 13, 15).

Together we are designing multi-year field schools, joint curricula, research projects, and open-access outputs that are co-rooted in Sierra Leone, Jamaica, and Italy, with Germany as a key institutional bridge.

Networks

RC48 – International Sociological Association Research Committee 48

AIBIA is connected to the RC48 network: the Research Committee on Social Movements, Collective Action and Social Change of the International Sociological Association (ISA). RC48 promotes international collaboration among scholars working on social movements, collective action, and social change.

For AIBIA, RC48 is:

  • a crucial intellectual and professional network for our work on autonomy, democracy, and movements,

  • a space where our team participates in conferences, PhD workshops, and thematic events related to social movements and radical democracy,

  • and a platform for connecting AIBIA’s Living Lab experiences (e.g. squatting, grassroots democracy, rural struggles, autonomous economies) with the wider field of social movement research.

RC48 strengthens the Think Tank’s capacity to translate grounded experiments into conversations that matter for global debates on democracy, social change, and collective action.

How we think about partnerships

Across all these collaborations, AIBIA is guided by a few principles:

  • Reciprocity and non-extraction
    We seek relationships where knowledge and resources move in multiple directions, and where our partners’ students, staff, and communities also benefit from engagement with AIBIA’s Living Labs.

  • Long-term orientation
    We prioritize partnerships that can grow over many years, rather than one-off projects.

  • Shared commitment to critical and decolonial practice
    We look for institutions and networks willing to question their own assumptions and structures, and to experiment with more democratic, just, and grounded forms of education and development.

Future partners & invitations

AIBIA’s network is still growing. We are in conversation with additional universities, grassroots organizations, and research networks interested in:

If your institution is interested in exploring partnership with AIBIA—as a university, community organization, network, or foundation—please reach out via our Contact page.

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