Change is not linear. Change is not easy. Changing the way research is carried out for more impact is certainly no exception. In session B8 of the Third International Forum for Water and Food, dedicated to innovation platforms, the tone was set: if we want to achieve impact, we have to change dramatically and it will not be a smooth learning curve.
Published on: 21/11/2011
This is true for the Challenge Programme on Water and Food (CPWF) and for any other piece of research that pretends to be relevant and meaningful. Innovation platforms bring together multiple stakeholders (researchers, farmers, national and local level governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations and other actors) and shape the nature of research and development interventions in a participatory and empowering way that supposedly guarantees improved sustainability of water and food research and development interventions. But the way forward is daunting. To achieve change and progress, one has to change, at various levels, and together.
This interactive session shed light on the nature of these changes. Andre van Rooyen, one of the presenters for this session, stressed some of the key lessons around the changes that had to happen to let innovation platforms blossom: Learning to live with change and uncertainty, nurturing diversity, combining multiple knowledges and social learning, shaping and seizing opportunities for self organization. Other speakers and presenters in the session further emphasized the different scales of learning to change around innovation platforms:
In short, researchers – certainly in the CPWF – have no alternative than carrying collaborative and integrated research, but they may not realize what this new process entails just yet, let alone accept the consequences of working around innovation platforms. Yet, the scientific spirit of curiosity that should guide any researcher is perhaps the most crucial asset one might need to embrace that change.
At IRC we have strong opinions and we value honest and frank discussion, so you won't be surprised to hear that not all the opinions on this site represent our official policy.