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