Obreal

Geopolitical fragmentation, trade tensions, global governance uncertainty... where does that leave the multilateral trading system?

This week, Obreal co-organized the conference "International Trade after the Trump 2.0 Shock" in Berlin, together with KDI School of Public Policy and Management and Freie Universität Berlin, bringing scholars and WTO Chairs from four continents together to debate WTO reform, economic security, and the future of multilateralism.

The conference is framed within Obreal's Interregional Dialogue Process, which connects knowledge across different Souths and Norths to co-define agendas and build shared responses to global challenges.

Read more on our website 👉 https://obreal.org/blog/2026/05/28/multilateral-trade-fragmentation-obreal-berlin-2026/

At Obreal, we've spent years building bridges between universities and institutions across regions. Today, that model takes a new shape: the Youth & Multilingualism AI Incubator, where we support AI projects that are responsible, rigorous, and built to matter.

One of our selected projects is by Yaasir Falana: an app that uses artificial intelligence to help small-scale farmers identify and manage crop diseases, with multilingual support and both image and text based diagnosis.

The problem it addresses is concrete: traditional crop disease diagnosis is slow, requires specialist knowledge, and is out of reach for farmers in remote areas. And existing agri-tech is built for large-scale operations.

👉 Swipe left to learn more about the project, developed under Obreal's and the Association of African Universities' AI Incubator

How can universities strengthen their role as development agents?

Ángel Manuel Rafael and Jaume Fortuny tackle this question in our newly published paper, and propose Open Innovation as the answer.

Read it on our website, and leave your comments below! 👉 https://obreal.org/es/blog/2026/05/21/new-publication-open-innovation-and-the-future-of-higher-education/

The Interregional Dialogue Process is gaining momentum: the Barcelona meeting, with representatives from 5 regions, confirms that the process is not only delivering results but also expanding.

Around the table: the African Union Commission, the Pro Tempore Presidency of CELAC (Uruguay), the Association of African Universities, the Association of Arab Universities اتحاد الجامعات العربية, the DAAD, the VLIRUOS, the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education, and CAPES. Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, the Arab world, China. University associations, cooperation agencies, and regional bodies. A diversity of regions and sectors that is, precisely, what the process is all about.

The meeting allowed us to make significant progress. We identified shared priorities for the coming months (science diplomacy, academic mobility, climate change, energy, artificial intelligence, rural cooperation) and we took stock of the results the process has generated so far. With a clear commitment: to produce more, and to do so with more regions, more voices, and more languages involved.

Because interregional cooperation only makes sense when it recognizes the plurality of institutions, academic traditions, and knowledge systems involved. And when regions participate not as recipients of external agendas, but as actors that define priorities, produce knowledge, and build capacities.

More details on the meeting and the next steps of the process on our website: https://obreal.org/blog/2026/05/20/interregional-partners-barcelona-higher-education-cooperation/

En Obreal creemos que las ideas jóvenes son clave para fortalecer la democracia. Los resultados de la convocatoria Julio Cotler 2026 nos dan más razones que nunca para seguir apostando por ello.

Hemos recibido 204 propuestas de jóvenes de 12 países de América Latina, el Caribe, y África. Una participación que nos llena de entusiasmo y que demuestra que estamos ante una generación comprometida con la democracia, con ganas de pensar, proponer y actuar.

A todas las personas que enviaron su propuesta: gracias. Independientemente del resultado, ya formáis parte de esta comunidad creciente de jóvenes comprometidos con la democracia.

Descubre más detalles en el carrusel y mantente atento a nuestras redes para conocer los próximos pasos. 👇

El programa Julio Cotler está impulsado por Obreal en colaboración con el Programa LACLxS de la Johns Hopkins University, el Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, la Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, la Sociedad Argentina de Análisis Político (SAAP) y Asuntos del Sur y con el apoyo de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

Last week, Obreal's Senior Advisor Wail Benjelloun joined a high-level panel at the launch of UNESCO's new Trends in Higher Education report where we discussed data gaps and needs in Africa, a key focus of the HAQAA3 initiative that Obreal coordinates. On the same occasion, we held bilateral meetings with UNESCO to take stock of our ongoing cooperation and align on joint priorities, from quality assurance and academic mobility to interregional dialogue.

But this is just the latest chapter of a much longer story. For years, Obreal and UNESCO have been working closely together on quality assurance, higher education data, academic mobility, and interregional dialogue across Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

Read the full story on our website. 🔗 https://obreal.org/blog/2026/05/15/obreal-unesco-higher-education-partnership/

Last week, Nairobi brought together what we believe the future of international cooperation looks like.

As part of the IMPACT HE project, Obreal convened the Leadership & Stakeholder Forum, a space where African and European university leaders, policymakers, and funding agencies sat at the same table to advance one shared conviction: African universities are engines of development.

📸 The photos say it all: a genuine dialogue across regions, cultures and sectors. Thank you all for your valuable participation!

Read about the highlights on our website 👉 https://obreal.org/blog/2026/05/13/african-universities-as-engines-of-development-building-change-together/

¡Última semana para participar en el Programa Julio Cotler!

¿Tienes una propuesta sobre educación, desigualdad social o fortalecimiento de la democracia?

Preséntala a través de nuestra web y formarás parte de una comunidad de jóvenes interesados en la democracia 👉 https://obreal.org/es/julio-cotler-program/julio-cotler-2026-proposals/

Si eres seleccionado, podrás desarrollar tu idea en profundidad con el acompañamiento y mentoría de renombrados expertos y optar a una beca y la publicación de tu trabajo en abierto.

El programa Julio Cotler está impulsado por Obreal en colaboración con el Programa LACLxS de la John Hopkins University, el Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, la Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, la Sociedad Argentina de Análisis Político (SAAP) y Asuntos del Sur y con el apoyo de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

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Julio Cotler 2026 Proposals - Obreal Julio Cotler Program 2026 EDITION Applications organized by in collaboration with with the support of

Researchers in Africa now have better tools. Open, free, and built to last.

The last 3 years Obreal has been working with African Network for Internationalization of Education - ANIE and 12 Universities from Africa and Europe to create open knowledge resources, a dedicated learning platform, and a new network of early-career researchers to strengthen doctoral training and research.

Now, these tools, this knowledge and this network are ready and accessible for all 👉 https://digigradafrica.anienetwork.org/

Learn more about the results and impact of DigiGrad Africa, a project co-funded by the European Commission, in the slides below!

Africa Nazarene University, University Of Cape Coast (UCC), University of Juba, Laweh University College, Moi University, Upper Nile University Juba, Sapienza Università di Roma

Quedan 9 días para aplicar al Programa Julio Cotler 2026. Si todavía no has presentado tu candidatura, ¡este es el momento!

Si tienes una propuesta sobre educación, desigualdad social o fortalecimiento de la democracia, preséntala a través de nuestra web antes del próximo 16 de mayo 👉 https://ow.ly/kqcU50YVXy7

Aplicando al programa formarás parte de una comunidad de jóvenes interesados en la democracia y, si eres seleccionado, podrás desarrollar tu idea en profundidad con el acompañamiento y mentoría de renombrados expertos y optar a una beca y la publicación de tu trabajo en abierto.