Towards comprehensive responses to interrelated global challenges Dr Ir. Paul G.H. Engel Director ECDPM 12 November 2014

ECDPM, European Centre for Development Policy Management ‘Think-and-do-Tank’, independent, non- partisan policy research institute Linking policy and practice in international cooperation Supporting international cooperation and networking by stakeholders from member states and institutions of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Engaging with distinct international policy processes to support dialogue, networking, research and building strategic partnerships

Some personal background Chair Food and Business Knowledge Platform, for the Netherlands’ Ministries of Foreign and Economic Affairs. Main research area (ECDPM/MSM): The social organization of innovation in international development policy and practice, particularly in the areas of Policy coherence for development and, Food and nutrition security and agriculture. PhD: Facilitating Innovation for Development (1995)

This presentation 1.An ambitious post-2015 global development agenda: 6 challenges to international cooperation 2.What do these challenges mean for international (research) cooperation and its actors?

An ambitious post-2015 global development agenda…

The world has changed…  Multi-polarity, new configuration of global power relations  Mutual interdependence, contested leadership  Growth for some and growing uncertainty for many  Traditional North-South relations fade away  Traditional strongholds of global power called into question  Many global challenges, but as yet no consensus on how to tackle the world’s most severe ones; working on it….

 Expected to set a framework for global development to address common social, economical and, environmental challenges.  Challenging international cooperation to be more transformative, and to fully address issues of governance and institutional change  Requiring a comprehensive approach, all relevant policy areas and sectors to work in a coherent manner (Climate, development, trade…)  Universal, so require tailor-made solutions to all countries, solutions that for the most part still have to be developed. Towards ambitious SDGs… International Cooperation increasingly political…

Challenges to international cooperation; it needs to… 1.Still mobilize all relevant parties and the resources needed to implement the SDG agenda (2015) 2.Move further from single actor towards multi- stakeholder, multi-sector approaches and partnerships 3.Take a more ‘transformative’ approach – sectors, conflict, capacity, governance 4.Replace technology transfer with support to interactive, multi-stakeholder social innovation 5.Move further into interdisciplinary, problem- oriented research 6.It needs to achieve coherence across external and with internal policies

What do these challenges mean for international (research) cooperation and its actors?

Agree to SDGs ~ as proposed by OWE Build a more forceful Global Partnership Achieve ‘buy-in’ from all Agree on measurable targets and indicators…. Achieve adequate means of implementation – not just financial, but also global governance, finance, trade regimes Primary actors: now, governments at the UN SDG Agenda needs to mobilize all relevant parties Challenge 1:

Public Private Partnerships require clear objectives, clear task division and, trust Motives for engaging in partnerships don’t have to be the same, but must align with development objectives Engage core business, not CSR: business models to be redesigned, can’t be easily transferred to DCs Business environment in DCs fragile, local business suffer most Primary actors: investors, businesses, NGO’s, user organizations, international organizations, national governments. Towards multi-stakeholder, multi- sector approaches and partnerships Challenge 2:

Democracy & accountability Sustainable, effective and inclusive institutions Responsible investment, business performance standards Voice & media Lobbying & advocacy Policy-oriented research/engaging policy Primary actors: national governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGO’s, Media, Policy Research institutes Towards more ‘transformative’ approaches, more emphasis on… Challenge 3:

Address social side of innovation – determines at least 75% of its success Invest in local research and innovation capacity Use of innovation platforms, Public private partnerships Help create ‘enabling environment for innovation’ Build on endogenous capacities and ideas Primary actors: governments, development partners, businesses, investors, research institutes (national and international) From technology transfer to support for interactive social innovation Challenge 4:

Develop problem/policy-orientation, interdisciplinary capacity, research methods Reset academic/research incentive structures Revise institutional financing mechanisms More flexible funding for (partner) institutions Mobilize non-development research for development Primary actors: higher education, research institutions, development partners, governments (national, donor and international) From disciplinary to interdisciplinary research Challenge 5:

Recognize links between external policies, and of those with domestic policies Inter-ministerial/departmental cooperation Develop comprehensive policy approaches for specific SDGs Develop agreed, coherent set of indicators to measure success for different SDGs/ problem areas Increase research on impact of (in) coherence on SDGs/ problem areas Primary actors: governments, international organizations, international businesses, NGO’s, research organizations, … Towards coherence across external and internal policies Challenge 6:

The roles of different actors…shift!  National governments, here and there  (Inter) national private sector, here and there  Global & regional organizations  Development partners, public and private  National & international civil society  National & international users’ organizations  National & international research & innovation Main challenge: Learn to work effectively with partners one has not worked with in development and, one might even have considered ‘incompetent’ and/or ‘suspicious’ before! (core business actors, other sectors, non-development disciplines, etc.)

Some concern with regard to role of research and knowledge in IC….  Working in (uneasy) partnerships requires solid knowledge and information creation and exchange to plan and implement collective action. (ex. agreed upon M&E indicators)  The demand for precise, context-based knowledge and information will increase substantially with the SDGs (ex. country context analysis).  Example: SDG progress needs to be measured at (sub) national and regional level, not just global

New SDG agenda requires greater investment in international research and innovation…  Governments and development partners will have to invest far more in the capacity of research and innovation actors and networks to enable them to respond to that demand  Current development financing mechanisms may not be the most adequate to involve ‘non- development’ research institutes in public- private partnership-driven innovation in developing countries.

Thank you!