Funded by the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), the project for internationalising teaching and research for social engagement and social justice is a partnership between the University of the Free State (UFS) and Linnaeus University (LNU) in Sweden. It is led by Professor Melanie Walker at UFS and Dr Christopher High at LNU.

The partnership draws on a common core focus of social justice and applied scholarship for social engagement and sustainable development and is based on collaborations in teaching, research, and social engagement between the two universities. The initial project in 2019 focuses on research training for participatory research in community and higher-education settings, involving staff, students, and early-career researchers of the Higher Education and Human Development (HEHD) group at UFS and the Peace and Development Work Programme (Freds- och utvecklingsarbete, FRU) at LNU.

The overarching aim of the project is to create a framework and organisation for international networking and collaboration between units in the UFS and LNU to develop an exchange that will support training in participatory research and to create a basis for future collaboration through building confidence and working relationships between staff at both institutions.