International Development Cooperation
The University of Milan is involved in over 50 international cooperation projects ranging from healthcare to sustainable development.
Our engagement with local institutions and civil society to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a top priority for us, as part of our efforts to “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development” (Goal 17 of the SDGs).
As a large multidisciplinary academic institution, the University of Milan has a natural focus on that part of the planet which, though far from the spotlight of well-known international rankings, offers great opportunities for mutually beneficial exchanges in the field of teaching and research as well as knowledge transfer.
Our partnerships with other players in this area have increased over time, and we have been playing an ever-larger role thanks to a rebalancing of decision-making away from the donor country to the bilateral partnership. The transfer of technologies, financial resources and skills thus shifted in favour of endogenous growth and knowledge sharing, resulting in new and original cultural syntheses.
The need to foster human capital growth through training lead to more student and faculty exchanges, and stronger relationships between universities also in the field of research.
Our involvement in local development projects alongside non-governmental cooperation helped us develop operational approaches based on ad-hoc technologies and solutions that will look beyond the efficiency criteria of industrial countries to better adjust to local structural and environmental constraints.
As for partnerships with government institutions, the University of Milan is working to identify any issues as well as to create strategic solutions in all areas of cooperation, from large healthcare facilities to the fight against endemic and neglected diseases, from agricultural development to the protection and enhancement of cultural resources, through to university and higher education.
The University of Milan is among the 40 Italian members of CUCS, a university network for development cooperation promoted by the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI).