Worldwide Networking : , Theme: international affairs
Europe is changing, the world is growing together. International megatrends like digitalization or the sustainable economy will determine the future agendas of all players in education, research and innovation.
Germany is facing up to this permanent change by playing an active national and international role, enhancing tried and tested models and looking for new answers to the topical issues of today and tomorrow. To this end, it is expanding its close bilateral cooperation in science and education with industrialized nations and emerging science nations beyond the EU context.
Intense relationships exist above all with the western industrialized countries. Cooperation takes very diverse forms based on the quality and breadth of the respective education and research environments. Its mainstay is the broad commitment of higher education institutions, research organizations and industry. These traditionally strong and well-established relations are being increasingly complemented by cooperation with other regions which have particular potential for cooperation with Germany.
Intensive cooperation with Asian countries
These include first and foremost the Asian-Pacific area, which is currently the world's most dynamic economic and scientific region. The Federal Ministry of Research wants to further increase the presence of German research and cooperation in this region.
Germany will continue its well-established research cooperation with the Ukraine and states of the Eastern Partnership. In addition, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is taking the growing political and scientific importance of the Central Asian states into account by intensifying cooperation with these countries.
Further priorities of international research cooperation are the Africa Strategy of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, bilateral research programmes in the Mediterranean and partnerships with Latin American countries.
In addition, Germany plays an active part in international organizations such as the OECD, Unesco and the United Nations. The aim is to take advantage of the individual activities of these organizations to generate an added value for the objectives and international priorities of the Federal Ministry of Research.