webinar | dec 2017 | smart villages findings on translating research into practice - bernie jones

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THE SMART VILLAGES INITIATIVE:

TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE

Dr Bernie Jones

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SMART VILLAGES

SMART CITIES

47% of world’s

population and

70% of the world’s

poor live in rural

villages

Technological

advances

Game

changing

innovations

WHY “SMART” IS SMART

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THE SMART VILLAGES INITIATIVE

Focus: sustainable local energy solutions for rural

communities

Policy advice: an insightful, ‘view from the frontline’ of

the challenges of village energy provision for

development, and how they can be overcome

Engagement: bringing together the key players:

scientists, entrepreneurs, villagers, NGO’s, financers,

regulators and policy makers etc:

What are the barriers?

How can they be overcome?

What messages to funders and policy makers?

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SIX PRIORITY REGIONS

East Africa

Southeast Asia

South Asia

South America

West Africa

Central America/Caribbean /Mexico

ACTIONS/OUTPUTS

>40 workshops/consultations

37 workshop reports

28 policy briefs

15 technical reports

13 webinars

4 research projects/collaborations

>500 presentations

8 international competitions

>70 profiles and case studies

>50 essays and stories

>2000 international network

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RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

1. Capacity Building & Knowledge Exchange

2. Research & Evaluation

3. Insights from the USES workshop

4. Recommendations

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CAPACITY BUILDING AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

■ Need for skills and institutional capacity at grass-roots levels

■ Training/qualification programmes (eg University of Nairobi, Barefoot)

■ Business skills & support to entrepreneurs (incubation, industry orgs)

■ Awareness of technology options for end users (seeing is believing)

■ Awareness of issues/environment for researchers (IBEKA)

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RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

■ Need for academia and frontline organisations to collaborate

■ Infrequency

■ Low level of local r&d

■ Opportunity for feedback – ie local experience directs research

■ Importance of Adequate vs Comprehensive solutions

■ Application-focus for researchers – may be new

■ Coordinating agencies

■ Recognise contribution of the village!

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USES WORKSHOP FEEDBACK

■ Different stakeholder groups require distinct approaches

■ gvmt, communities, businesses, NGOs

■ Need for better N-S and S-S research collaboration

■ Early engagement and feedback necessary

■ Tailoring of messages/information

■ Importance of social science research vs physical sciences

■ New forms of academic output – projects?

■ Fund outreach, not just core work

■ Be aware of constraints in comms to rural

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RECOMMENDATIONS

■ Build outreach/communications into research (& fund)

■ Identify coordinating agencies or gateways

■ Realise knowledge comes from many places

■ Encourage bi-directional information flow

■ “How-to”, not just “what”

■ Innovate

■ Share data

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Thank you for your attention

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