Call us: + 61 2 8079 2911 info@ifsd.com.au
 
Call us: + 61 2 8079 2911 info@ifsd.com.au

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

 
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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

 
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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

 
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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

 
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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

 
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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

 
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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

 
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RESEARCH INSIGHTS

 
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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.
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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.
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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

 
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EVENTS

 
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TWITTER

 
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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

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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

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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

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WHOWorld Health Organization (WHO)@WHO·
31 Jul

The International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on #COVID19 has reconvened today, 4th time since 1st meeting in January.

Read more about the Emergency Committee: http://bit.ly/2RjJugm

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ifsdAUIFSD@ifsdAU·
27 Dec

Chennai takes new strides towards water security https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chennai-takes-new-strides-towards-water-security/article30402534.ece

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stukhanStuart Khan@stukhan·
23 Dec

Water from Warragamba is treated at 3 water filtration plants, each with slightly different processes. They may all cope slightly differently when challenged with cyanobacteria-impacted water. But the key processes for each include coagulation, filtration and disinfection. 13/21

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bentalkstrashBen Still@bentalkstrash·
23 Dec

@stukhan Interesting case study from Braidwood about removing fire related pollutants from water via reeds & leaky weirs https://www.theland.com.au/story/6554043/weirs-flow-helps-firefighters/

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ifsdAUIFSD@ifsdAU·
26 Dec

An excellent story by New Work Times's science and health reporter Donald McNeil and Poras Chaudhary, on the deteriorating health of the river Ganges in India. https://nyti.ms/2PQAtdO

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LATEST RESOURCES

 
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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.