Conference 2021
Transformative Research – The New Imperative in Science?
GRP-Alliance & SUDAC Conference - 7 May 2021
Research shall contribute to transformations towards sustainable development. How does such research look like and what is needed to promote this kind of research? Will transformative research become the new normal or is it just a short-lived new fashion?
This conference brought together actors from academia, civil society, private sector, administration and politics to discuss the role of research for transformation. With presentations of examples of innovative transformative research partnerships and expectations from policy workers and practitioners we learned more about the potential but also challenges of transformative research. Together, we discussed how to implement, improve and promote transformative research.
Post your research projects to our interactive map to show where you carry out research and to learn where others are active.
Watch the different programme-points of the conference
Welcome
Franco Gervasoni
Towards transformative science for sustainable futures
- We need to shift from fundamental research to mission-oriented research cooperation with the Global South for transformation towards sustainable development - including new review and reward systems.
- Transformation towards achieving the SDGs requires much more than scientific knowledge. Science must become part of society and enter the global partnership for the 2030 Agenda
- We all know that sustainability issues can only be solved if we have capacities in the Global North and the Global South. We need to invest in scientific excellence in the Global South to build the scientific excellence where it is most needed to bring to live contextually adequate pathways for sustainable development.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s (SDC) strategic orientation regarding research for development
SDC sees transformative research within society to influence society and to provide solutions to generate transformative change within society towards sustainable development.
To make sure that research is used, clients for this research should be identified from the beginning of a project. Research projects should be coalitions between people from researcher and people from civil society, private sector or the government that have a need to which research can produce answers. Applications of research should not only be sought towards the end of a project.
SDC aims at capacity building in research in the Global South through its research projects that deliver results for SDC. All programmes entail a component of capacity building with young researchers from the North and the South being involved.
For the new TRANSFORM Programme, SDC has selected 3 projects
Impact of COVID-19 on North-South Research Partnerships
Recommendations by Inza Koné for North-South research in times of COVID-19 and beyond
1) To tackle the big issues of this century, we need to work in synergy and build strong North-South research partnerships.
2) International project leaders have to search for true counterparts in the countries where they work and they need to recruit local students and build their capacities, so that they can continue research activities also in difficult times.
3) Donors should fund projects only if the project has a principal investigator from the local country.
Breakout Rooms
Cooperation between Private Sector and Universities: A Key Element for Innovation in Sustainable Development?
Tech4Dev – Activating EPFL Technologies for Disruptive Development Cooperation
CLOC Knowledge2Action in South Asia
Panel discussion on the role of Switzerland to fund transformative research for global sustainable development
Speakers
Academy: Jürg Utzinger (Director SwissTPH)
Private Sector: Hans-Peter Egler (Director Public Affairs South Pole)
Administration: Maria Peyro Voeffray (Head International Relations, State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation)
Administration: Christian Frutiger (Head Global Cooperation, SDC)
Closing Remarks
Some impressions from the production of the online conference.
Contact
SCNAT
Swiss Alliance for Global Research Partnerships (GRP-Alliance)
House of Academies
PO Box
3001 Bern
Switzerland
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