Read comments about the EfD Annual Meeting 2008 in China 3-6 Nov:
Link to page with program, presentations and interviewsLink to photo gallery
Jintao XuResearch Fellow and Coordinator of EfD in China Overall comment? "Very good. Progress has been made in each center, especially in the area of publications. All centers have become more competitive finally. This meeting was particularly good also due to the fact that we knew and like each other better. It also raised the level of international collaboration significantly. Lot more concrete research ideas have been developed among researchers and visitors, such as RFF, Berkeley, etc." How was it to host this meeting in China? "Challenging and eventually a fun experience. Members of our center learnt much more about EfD initiatives and the environmental economics. They also enjoyed meeting and chatting with visitors at the meeting. Exposure of our center at the university, the economics field (CCER) and other institutions such as City University of Hong Kong - has been great. Our capacity of meeting coordination is enhanced."What about the importance of this meeting for EfD in China? "Excitement of working in environmental economics has been raised among students and associates due to the unique opportunity to mingle with environmental economists from all parts of the world. It also gives us pressure after seeing other centers have improved tremendously. We have reached agreement with Berkeley with regard to 2 specific research themes as well as Ph.D.student exchange, how great. We have had very good discussion with Jim Boyd and Allen Blackman and I believe we will collaborate in REDD, PES and urban air quality issues. How much more can we expect for?"
Gunnar KöhlinResearch Fellow and Director of EfDOverall comment? "The meeting had four objectives - to discuss and improve ongoing research,discuss new research proposals, develop research themes for the next proposal to Sida, and to further strengthen the collaboration between the centers. All the objectives were more than met. In addition, we learnt a lot about the current research on environmental problems in China and enjoyed the fabulous hospitality of our Chinese hosts."What about the importance of this meeting for the EfD initiative? "The meeting was particularly important since it framed the themes that will characterize EfD research in the coming three to five years."What do you think characterized this annual meeting? "What was most striking was the amazing level of activity within the initiative. After less than two years, the centers are already pushing out discussion papers and journal articles as well as a lot of policy outreach. When everything was presented back to back like this, it was breathtaking. Did this meeting mean that the EfD program took a step in any particular direction?It was also striking to see how much interaction that was going on between the centers. This is very promising for the thematic research collaboration that we expect to be the hallmark of the EfD initiative."
Thomas SternerResearch fellow and Chair of the Research CommitteeWhat did this meeting mean for the research component of the EfD? "A great opportunity to be inspired by each others research as papers and ideas were presented at the session. However also a very important opportunity to collaborate informally. Many researchers sat in breaks, lunches, evenings or in the busses and discussed new ideas or articles in progress."Any other comment you would like to give? "It is also very inspiring to bring people from Africa, Latin America, Europe and the US together with Chinese forestry officials to start discussing the practical intricacies of forestry reform. It is this kind of opportunity that really focuses our attention on real and relevant issues."
David Le BlancSenior Sustainable Development Officer at the Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), who was invited to attend the meeting as an external observer. Overall comment about the EfD initiative? “In a nutshell, the EfD initiative appears to me to be quite unique and really brings value added in many ways. It breaks the dependence link between developing country researchers and donors, by providing developing country researchers with reliable and predictable funding for research on commonly agreed topics, thus enabling really neutral, world-class research on important issues.Secondly it fosters real and meaningful collaboration between the centers, thereby accelerating the progression of all the EfD community members. Moreover, it promotes an environment of openness and sharing, very different from the competition that exists in so many places. The kind of research that EfD network carries is highly relevant to the international sustainable development agenda.”
Wilfred NyangenaResearch fellow and Coordinator of EfD in Kenya, and host of next year´s annual meeting.Overall comment? "The annual meeting was a success in terms of excellent logistical organization, the diversity of participants and presentations, good choice of the venue, and the field trip. The presentations had a wide scope and most were informative in terms of subject matter and methodological procedures. I saw lots of people with similar research interests coalescing together naturally and holding discussions late into the night. Fredrik did an excellent job in setting an academic program that encouraged or synergized discussion and interaction. The EfD initiative is steadily becoming a well polished diamond!"As next year´s host – what do you bring with you? "A lot of things! Early planning perhaps will be a good thing to ensure that things work well till the end. We hope to match the standards of set by China."Any plans for the annual meeting 2009? "By the time of the conference, we anticipate that there will be many papers from within the EfD initiative for presentation. We also hope that the academic program will include discussants to give detailed comments on the papers. Perhaps this would improve on the quality of comments that authors receive. Discussants should preferably be people with wide experience in the subject matter even if they might be outside of the EfD network."
Alemu MekonnenResearch fellow and Coordinator of EfD in Ethiopia Overall comment? "I think it was a very good meeting. There were very good presentations of papers and research proposals/ideas and the first step in selecting reseach themes seems to have gone very well."What about the importance of this meeting for EfD in Ethiopia? "The interaction with other researchers and the lessons we learnt from the meetings will be very useful for our EfD center in Ethiopia (EEPFE)."
Razack LokinaResearch fellow and Coordinator of EfD in TanzaniaOverall comment?"I found the 2008 EfD meeting very useful and well organized. Sessions were well arranged to allow having flexibility on what the participant is interested on."What about the importance of this meeting for EfD in Tanzania?"The meeting was important for EfD in Tanzania as it gave me another chance to see what others are doing in their respective centre. It was like more of learning process for further improvement of our centres activities and a call for more work."Any other comment you would like to give?"Professor Jintao and his team did a wonderful job in hosting this meeting. It was well planned. Thanks very much."
Edwin MuchapondwaResearch fellow and Coordinator of EfD in South AfricaOverall comment? Given that this was the second time that the EfD has been holding such a meeting the logistics were quite improved and everyone knew exactly what was expected of them. The EfD annual meeting 2008 gave proof that the EfD is still very productive and even more productive as it matures. All center reports indicated that the EfD is having a great impact on the landscapes where it operates. What about the importance of this meeting for EfD in South Africa? As always, these meetings are important in that they facilitate peer-reviews of the work that the EfD South Africa is doing. We also get some lessons from the work that other centers are doing. Our three research fellows who attended the meeting report that they struck promising research collaborations. Any other comment you would like to give? The deliberations of meetings of this nature are usually very great, at least on paper. The discussions around the EfD research themes was welcome. There is a need for mechanisms which will ensure that all resolutions taken will be implemented rather than only be brought up for further debating at the next meeting.
Anders EkbomResearch fellow and Policy analystOverall comment ? "I was positively surprised. I think it was promising and that the deliberations have matured and developed since last meeting. I took part in several interesting discussions and listened to many interesting research presentations. It seems we are all getting closer and work towards one objective. Focus on issues and substance and not on administration, money etc. Good!"What was your main ambition with the policy session? "This session had four objectives: To present/reinforce the rationale/need for linking research to policy planning and decisionmaking – why it is important. To present experiences in this field and tools that can be/have been used to increase the influence of research on policy – how to do it. To present how Policy briefs can be written. To discuss and share experiences among the EfD researchers on research-policy engagement."What did this meeting mean for the policy component of the EfD? "Although in a modest way, I think it increased their awareness of why it is important and how it can be done. If nothing else the participants got references to more information on the topic. There is a need to do a lot more in this part of the EfD Initiative but I was positively surprised from having heard the presentations as well as from individual discussions. EfD researchers are all clearly buying in on the need to do more to strengthen research-policy links."
Juan RobalinoResearch fellowOverall comment? "The organization of meeting was excellent. It was a great opportunity to learn about the overall performance of the program academic and policy wise and learn how we can help in its development."What about the importance of this meeting for EfD in Central America? "It was a great opportunity to learn about other centers' research and ways in which we can collaborate as well as show what we have been working on."
Fredrik Carlsson Research fellow Overall comment? It turned out to be a really good meeting, interesting presentations and discussions. The thematic discussions have a lot of potential. What was your main ambition when creating the program? I did not really create the program, I just gathered the papers/proposals that fit relatively well togehter. How would you briefly describe the content? Many papers on agricultural and forestry issues.Any other comment you would like to give? Ordering Chinese food without any chinese speaking person turned out to be really fun and rewarding.
Link to photo gallery