Knowledge Brokering and Synthesis
The Knowledge Brokering and Synthesis (KBS) team sees to it that the knowledge that comes out of the three other research consortia is upscaled and translated into learning outputs that are accessible and available to local stakeholders to make the knowledge bigger than the sum of their parts.
— Nicky Pouw, Principal Investigator
The Knowledge Brokering and Synthesis (KBS) team tries to answer the question,
What are effective ways of building bridges between SDG research and policymaking realities to stimulate fruitful knowledge exchange for improved policy design and implementation?
The aim of the Knowledge Brokering and Synthesis team (KBS-team) is to stimulate knowledge exchange and collaboration between the three individual research projects and making their findings actionable for policymakers working to achieve the SDGs.
We do so by facilitating shared learning between the researcher groups along with analysing, synthesising, and disseminating their results to a diverse audience, including policymakers, development workers, and academics. The outcomes contribute to the creation of integrated and evidence-based policies that effectively address the interdependencies of the SDGs, ultimately leading to more sustainable and inclusive development outcomes.
This project has no strict country focus, as it seeks to bring together the findings of the different research consortia, compare and contrast these with other sources of information, and establish effective linkages with policymaking communities, both at the national and international levels.
Still, the target audience consists primarily of policymakers and researchers in the respective project study countries (Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Bangladesh) and professionals at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands.
The early stages of this project are yielding valuable findings. Here is what we’ve learned so far:
Explore a summary of the preliminary findings from this project, shared in a concise two-pager that highlights key insights.
Governing Global Goals: Uniting knowledge and perspectives on the SDGs for inclusive development
Read through our one-pagers that synthesise findings from across the three other themes, providing a comprehensive look at key cross-cutting insights.
Where are inclusive development efforts taking place, and which stakeholders are involved or excluded in policy-making and implementation processes?
What SDG interactions have been identified, and what synergies and/or trade offs can be identified?
What alignment mechanisms are in place domestically or internationally to strive towards policy coherence?
Explore additional outputs from across the SDG Interactions project—including publications, interviews, and synthesised findings from all four themes—on the outputs page.
Currently, the KBS-team is working on an additional project called Aligned Minds, developing a methodology that provides practical tools to facilitate meaningful stakeholder engagement workshops to enhance research impact on policy change. The methodology is called Aligned Minds as it focuses on engaging multiple stakeholders from the local knowledge ecosystem in order to bring alignment in their understanding of the problem being addressed and possible solutions. By aligning diverse stakeholder groups in this way greater potential is built to realise impact through collective action. Read more about the methodology and progress on this page.
The research consortium is led by Dr. Nicky Pouw, Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam. The team further consists of:
Dr. Nicky Pouw
Associate Professor of Economics of Wellbeing at the Governance and Inclusive Development research programme, University of Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Prof. Dzodzi Tsikata
Research professor in Development Sociology and Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana
Ghana
Melanie van Driel
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Governance and Inclusive Development research programme at University of Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Malin Olofsson
Knowledge broker at The Broker
The Netherlands
Charlotte Stam
Knowledge broker at The Broker
The Netherlands
For more information on the preliminary findings, click here
For more information about the knowledge brokering and synthesis team, watch the conversations with Nicky Pouw and Dzodzi Tsikata.