EfD welcomes Daniel Slunge as a researcher and Policy Engagement Director. He started this position on January 1st and comes most recently from the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development.
Daniel Slunge is an economist with a passion for environmental and health issues and has combined his teaching and research with policy engagement. He has extensive experience from working with ministries and agencies in Latin America and Africa, and from advisory work for organizations such as Sida, the World Bank, UNDP, and UNEP. Daniel Slunge is well-known to many people within EfD and has been involved in our work for many years.
What will you do as Policy Engagement Director?
There is so much great work being done within EfD already, and my job will be to make it even more relevant for policy-makers and have an even bigger impact. Simply kick it up one more notch. Most researchers have very limited training on policy engagement, and it is often ad hoc. I will contribute to making our policy engagement more strategic and systematic.
Where will your focus be, initially?
We are launching a program for inclusive green economy (IGE) in East Africa. That is where I will put my initial focus. It’s an extensive program where we will provide training for civil servants. The training is based on research on economic policy instruments and we will also encourage processes for peer-learning between policymakers in different countries.
This program has many great features and I believe it may serve as a role model for how we can interact with policy-makers in other countries as well.
What did you find interesting about this position?
I have followed EfD since the start in 2007 and I’m thrilled to see how the organization is developing. The issues that EfD is addressing are also more urgent than ever – the “decade of action” calls for closer cooperation between researchers and policy-makers. We have an important role to play here and with our new contracts with Sida we also have the means to step up our ambitions.
What are your most valuable experiences for this job, do you think?
Having one foot in the policy world and one in academia gives me many useful experiences and contacts. Also, for ten years I have taught a Ph.D. course on stakeholder interaction in research processes. I know how difficult it can be for researchers to reach out with our work! With these experiences, I hope to contribute to a learning process on policy engagement within the EfD network.
How do you feel about your new position?
I am really excited and look forward to intensive and fun collaborations with EfD colleagues and others!
By: Petra Hansson
