Call us: + 61 (0) 450 088 778 info@ifsd.com.au
 
Call us: + 61 (0) 450 088 778 info@ifsd.com.au

IFSD launches Community of Practice streams to share knowledge and strengthen capacity to respond to COVID-19

 
5382
 
Initially many of us thought that COVID-19 is just a usual type of virus that will come and go. But this expectation has proved totally wrong. The virus has become the largest blow to the human society after WWII. While health is the first domain affected by the Pandemic, economic and social impacts are going to be even more devastating. Recovery to the Pandemic is not about going back to the old situation but to a new normal which we still don’t know.

 

How the developing and emerging economies in Asia build back their economies determines the security, peace, and prosperity in the region and globally. Rebuilding after the Pandemic must also consider climate change – we cannot tackle multi-hazard crisis by acting in silos. As a small contribution towards strengthening recovery, IFSD has launched Community of Practice Initiatives (CPI) to targeting young, emerging and early career professionals. The four streams of CPI include: Health security, food security, water security, and climate security.

Please see IFSD Community of Practice Internship Framework for more details and how to apply.

Australia-Nepal sharing experiences on urban water management

 
4594
 
On 6 September 2020, IFSD Australia and Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS) organised an online workshop to share urban water management lessons and experiences between the professionals of the two countries. A total of 60 participants took part in the active learning process in which water management experts from Australia delivered presentations. Over a 30 municipality Mayors, engineers, urban water managers, and community leaders from Nepal attended the forum.  Dr Madhusudan Pudasaini and Mr Dhruba Subedi from Sydney presented their Australian experiences, while Dr Basundhara Bhattarai of IFSD co-hosted the program with Dr Dil Khatri, Kamal Devkota and Kaustuv Neupane of SIAS. The sharing event has stimulated new thinking and offered new insights to local governments and professional groups in Nepal to better plan and manage rapidly growing cities of Nepal, while ensuring water security and sanitation services. More about the program will be made available soon.

Strategic review of climate change and water insecurity in the Indo-Pacific, with Australian Water Partnership

 
5205
 
The Asia-Pacific region  is predicted to have a population of 5.2 billion by 2050 and hosting 22 megacities by 2030. Under climate change and population growth, up to 3.4 billion people could be living in water-stressed areas of Asia by 2050, according to the Asian Development Bank 2016. Despite some progress, 554 million people, close to the entire population of North America, do not have access to safe drinking water.  As a partner of Australian Water Partnership (AWP), IFSD is assisting AWP to assess climate change’s impact on water security, and then suggest strategies for minimising climate change induced water insecurity in the region.

Building partnership for urban water resilience in South Asia

 
5210
 
IFSD has singed a Memorandum of Understanding with Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS) to work together on building urban water resilience in Nepal. IFSD is providing technical assistance through global best practices review, designing and implementing locally engaged research, and creating effective science-policy interface. The partnership with SIAS has been an important learning ground for IFSD, and several of the lessons and outcomes from SIAS projects have provided an important basis for IFSD to offer expert assistance to think tanks, policy makers, international programs, and government agencies across Asia and the Pacific.

Our Theory of Change

 
2848
 
IFSD’s theory of change is straightforward: It is about building people’s skills (human capital) and institutional capacity (social capital) to effectively and sustainably mange environmental resources (natural capital). These results cannot be predetermined – A process of learning and innovation needs to be in place to catalyse and upscale transformational change.

Featured update: Australia's New Climate Change Action Strategy for international development

 
2848
 
In November 2019, Australian government agency Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) launched a new Climate Change Action Strategy 2020-2015. This strategy seeks to respond to climate change concerns across DFAT international assistance programs. It aims to support support partner countries to adapt to climate change, promote low-emission development, and support innovative solutions.
Informed by this theory of change, we offer a range of services encompassing applied and strategic research, education and learning, organisational change, policy development, social entrepreneurship, and strategic planning.
 
Click here to view the full report from the website of DFAT, Government of Australia.

UPDATES

 
2848
 
 

RESEARCH INSIGHTS

 
2848
 
4361
 

Can Bangladesh produce enough cereals to meet future demand?

Dr Jagadish Timsina and his colleagues have recently published a paper in a journal called Agricultural Systems. The paper provides an important scientific assessment of food security situation in Bangladesh. It shows that Bangladesh is likely to face food insecurity in time to come.
4420
 

Does labor migration help reduce poverty?

Dr Ramesh Sunam’s research published recently by Journal of Agrarian Change reveals that that many poor people have improved livelihoods through diverse portfolio of agricultural activities and migration. However, the poorer families have not benefitted as expected.
3975
 

How is community engagement changing in natural resources governance?

In paper recently published in World Development, Dr Hemant Ojha and colleagues draw on real world cases from Australia, Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal, and Papua New Guinea to make an important conclusion that local communities are no longer local: they are getting ‘delocalised’, with important implications in natural resource governance.

BLOGS

 
2848
 
 

Warning: preg_match(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 12 in /home/customer/www/ifsd.com.au/public_html/wp-content/plugins/js_composer/include/classes/shortcodes/vc-basic-grid.php on line 177

EVENTS

 
2848
 

TWITTER

 
2848
 

IFSDFollow

IFSD
Retweet on TwitterIFSD Retweeted
SIAS_SouthasiaSIAS-Southasia@SIAS_Southasia·
11 May

SIAS researcher @rachana_tweets speaking as a panelist on the gendered impacts of #water water scarcity among #urban poor in KTM in the time of #pandemic .
@KamalDevkota1 @Neupanekaustuv @Suchitasht @maskeygyanu

Reply on Twitter 1259729505389891584Retweet on Twitter 12597295053898915841Like on Twitter 12597295053898915845Twitter 1259729505389891584
Retweet on TwitterIFSD Retweeted
ojhahemant1Hemant Ojha, PhD@ojhahemant1·
25 Aug

Our take on tragic landslides in Nepal Himalayas, a disaster that could have been avoided through planning and accountable governance. https://www.spotlightnepal.com/2020/08/25/avoidable-disasters/ @DelDemUCan @UCIGPA @ngamindra1

Reply on Twitter 1298212077920632832Retweet on Twitter 12982120779206328325Like on Twitter 12982120779206328324Twitter 1298212077920632832
Retweet on TwitterIFSD Retweeted
SIAS_SouthasiaSIAS-Southasia@SIAS_Southasia·
25 Sep

As a part of the 41st Social Service Day celebration, SIAS is co-hosting a panel discussion with other research think tanks on Enabling regulatory environment for non government research organizations in Nepal. Join Us in the discussion tomorrow!

Reply on Twitter 1309356079592214528Retweet on Twitter 13093560795922145283Like on Twitter 13093560795922145284Twitter 1309356079592214528
Retweet on TwitterIFSD Retweeted
SIAS_SouthasiaSIAS-Southasia@SIAS_Southasia·
8 Oct

Inaugurated the new Policy Perspective #Water and #Development in South #Asia
@ojhahemant1 @KamalDevkota1 @Neupanekaustuv @ICLEISouthAsia @cdknetwork @_bupreti @NetraPrasadTims @ruru_krishna

2
Reply on Twitter 1314129217513123844Retweet on Twitter 13141292175131238445Like on Twitter 13141292175131238444Twitter 1314129217513123844
Retweet on TwitterIFSD Retweeted
GrOW4WomenGrOW Program@GrOW4Women·
30 Jul

In partnership with @gatesfoundation and @hewlett_found, we are launching a call for proposals for Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women - East Africa. Find out more and apply here: https://www.idrc.ca/en/funding/call-proposals-growth-and-economic-opportunities-women-grow-east-africa
@IDRC_CRDI

Reply on Twitter 1288925132526845958Retweet on Twitter 128892513252684595838Like on Twitter 128892513252684595846Twitter 1288925132526845958
Retweet on TwitterIFSD Retweeted
UoAGFARCentre for Global Food & Resources (GFAR)@UoAGFAR·
31 Jul

#Webinar Alert!
26 Aug 11:30 SA time
GFAR's @Aperaltita presenting '#Gender differences in #sociallearning among #Vanuatu #cocoa growers' using results from our @ACIARAustralia project
@RaidNetwork @CrawfordFund
📷credit: Philippe Métois
Register here: http://ow.ly/goJH50AMTyh

2
Reply on Twitter 1288995334207737858Retweet on Twitter 12889953342077378582Like on Twitter 12889953342077378584Twitter 1288995334207737858
Retweet on TwitterIFSD Retweeted
guardianThe Guardian@guardian·
31 Jul

'No one stops you': shoppers' attitudes to masks differ across UK https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/31/no-one-stops-you-coronavirus-shoppers-attitudes-to-masks-differ-across-uk?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1596198087

Reply on Twitter 1289174502048329729Retweet on Twitter 128917450204832972914Like on Twitter 128917450204832972920Twitter 1289174502048329729
Load More...

LATEST RESOURCES

 
2848
 

Writing A Policy Brief to Maximise Impact

A powerpoint presentation offering important tips and lessons on how research results can be packaged into a high impact policy brief.

 

 

 

From Research to Policy Impact: Exploring Actionable Areas for Transformation

International agriculture and development research has played a significant role in reducing poverty and promoting sustainable practices of natural resources management in the developing world. However, as independent research evidence highlights, the policy uptake of research in developing countries, regardless of whether the research is nationally driven or internationally supported, is dismally low. This is partly because policy actors and researchers often come from very different political, institutional and epistemological positions, which makes it difficult for the two groups of actors to interact meaningfully and make full use of the research outputs in policy improvement. There is also a limit of what a research work can do in the highly politicised process of policy making. More recently, the context of policy making, and the way policies shape practices, are also rapidly changing, with profound implications on ‘research to policy’ strategies. This presentation identifies five areas that are crucial to catalyze successful research-policy interface in international development. It also shows how research into ‘research-policy interface’ could enhance research systems which have a policy impact goal.