Join us in the Garden Pavillion at Rhodes House to start the day

Welcome and introduction, setting the scene for the day and outlining its purpose and objectives.

This session will use structured story circles to explore and map the capabilities within our network. Participants will be placed in small groups of 5–6, both in person and online, and invited to share brief personal stories about their work, experiences, and strengths. Through guided conversation, these stories will help surface connections, uncover shared challenges, and highlight the diverse skills across the group, creating a richer understanding of the network as a whole.

This session will build on the capabilities mapped in the first session, shifting the focus from individual achievements to collective impact. Participants will explore how their combined strengths, experiences, and connections can be mobilised to address shared challenges and opportunities, fostering a more collaborative approach.

Hosted at Reuben College

A plenary panel to frame the discussion, offering diverse perspectives and key insights to inform and inspire the breakout group conversations that follow.

For the rest of the afternoon, participants will work in pre-assigned breakout groups focused on key thematic areas (HealthTech, Climate and Sustainability, and Education and Youth Unemployment). Each group will bring together a diverse mix of perspectives and expertise, working in a collaborative format to explore challenges, generate ideas, and identify practical, pilot-ready solutions. The sessions are: 

HealthTech - This session will bring together a diverse group of participants, including healthcare professionals, policymakers, innovators, and those with a general interest in health, to explore Africa’s most pressing healthcare challenges. Moving beyond traditional models, we will adopt an entrepreneurial mindset to foster interprofessional collaboration, technological innovation, and public policy advancements, with a view to ensuring equitable and sustainable health outcomes for all African populations. The breakout session will culminate in the selection of three pilot-ready health-tech solutions complete with an implementation plan that pairs technical experts with local providers/policy makers to address critical unmet healthcare needs on the African continent.

Climate and Sustainability - This session will bring together a diverse group of participants, including climate practitioners, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and those with a general interest in sustainability, to explore some of Africa’s most urgent climate and environmental challenges. Together, we will work in an interactive, collaborative format to generate practical, context-relevant ideas. Adopting an entrepreneurial mindset, the session will encourage cross-sector thinking, drawing on insights from climate science, technology, finance, and local community knowledge. The breakout will culminate in the identification of a number of promising, pilot-ready solutions or initiatives, along with initial implementation pathways that connect local innovation with local and global multistakeholder actors (including researchers, policymakers, and communities) to drive sustainable and inclusive impact across the continent.

Education and Youth Unemployment - This session confronts the urgent gap between Africa's education systems and its labour markets, bringing together a diverse group of participants (educators, employers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and those with a broader interest in the future of work) to explore the challenges and opportunities facing young people across the continent. Working in an interactive, collaborative format, participants will draw on cross-sector insights from education, industry, technology, and lived experience to generate practical, context-relevant ideas. The session will culminate in the identification of promising, pilot-ready solutions and initiatives, along with concrete implementation pathways that connect educators, employers, and policymakers to better equip Africa's youth for a rapidly evolving world of work and entrepreneurship.

Working groups continue, building on earlier discussions to further develop ideas and refine emerging solutions.

A closing plenary where all groups reconvene to share their work, reflect on key insights, and highlight the solutions developed during the breakout sessions.

The day concludes with a reception in the gardens of Balliol College, where participants, Scholars in Residence, and partner programme representatives come together for informal networking and conversation. Please RSVP for this upon registration.

Open to AfOx and Rhodes programme participants. Please RSVP for this upon registration.