title: Successes and challenges of north-south partnerships - key lessons from the African/Asian Regional Capacity Development projects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increasing efforts are being made globally on capacity building. North-south research partnerships have contributed significantly to enhancing the research capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) over the past few decades; however, a lack of skilled researchers to inform health policy development persists, particularly in LMICs. The EU FP7 funded African/Asian Regional Capacity Development (ARCADE) projects were multi-partner consortia aimed to develop a new generation of highly trained researchers from universities across the globe, focusing on global health-related subjects: health systems and services research and research on social determinants of health. This article aims to outline the successes, challenges and lessons learned from the life course of the projects, focusing on the key outputs and experiences of developing and implementing these two projects together with sub-Saharan African, Asian and European institution partners.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen participants from 12 partner institutions were interviewed. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis, which resulted in four themes and three sub-categories. These data were complemented by a review of project reports.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated that the ARCADE projects have been successful in developing and delivering courses, and have reached over 920 postgraduate students. Some partners thought the north-south and south-south partnerships that evolved during the project were the main achievement. However, others found there to be a 'north-south divide' in certain aspects. Challenges included technical constraints and quality assurance. Additionally, adapting new teaching and learning methods into current university systems was challenging, combined with not being able to award students with credits for their degrees.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ARCADE projects were introduced as an innovative and ambitious project idea, although not designed appropriately for all partner institutions. Some challenges were underestimated from the beginning, and for such future projects, a more structured approach needs to be adopted. ARCADE partners learned that integrating courses into current university systems and awarding students credits are essential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences (Global Health/IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Färnman
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences (Global Health/IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Public Health and Environment, R.D. Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, India.
authors.forename: Vishal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Diwan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Studies in Family Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Merrick
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zwarenstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences (Global Health/IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; salla.atkins@ki.se.
authors.forename: Salla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atkins
keywords: course development; global health; institutions; north–south collaboration; partners; students