Exchanging experiences on doing inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary research in development

On December 9, 2015, Dr Nicky Pouw (UvA), project leader of the GCP Food and Business project on “Women Food Entrepreneurs in City Slums of Kenya and Burkina Faso” presented at the Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg at the Global Partnership Conference organized by Professor Katja Bender (HBRS) and the Ministry for Innovation and Science Nordrhein Westfalen.

German policymakers and the scientific community sought input and reflection on their own development research funding frameworks and what could make it better fit to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and new complexities on today’s international development agendas. The example of the Dutch Knowledge Platforms was mentioned several times as indicative of good practice to foster inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary research in development. The importance of giving researchers the necessary time and resources to assess the local context, identify key stakeholders and establish collaborative links was stressed, and the networking function of the Dutch Knowledge Platforms was commended.

To fulfill the multi-fold prerequisites of conducting inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary research, whilst at the same time comply to the scientific criteria of research outputs was stated as a major challenge.

Please follow this link to download the presentation by Nicky Pouw.