1. 26 September 2016 Peter Holmgren, Director General
CIFOR Annual Meeting Opening address Making impact in a post-truth world
26 September 2016
Peter Holmgren, Director General

2. 2016: Changed.
2015: Change.

3. ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Now what?

4. Making impact
in a post-truth world.

6. CIFOR Theory of Change
Research
Engagement
Uptake
Impact

8. Filter bubbles
Echo chambers
Social media

9. Challenger disaster 1986 Research Engagement Uptake Impact
Lack of understanding of facts provided
Complicated
communications
on the day
Culture of “structural secrecy”1
Known problem of cold weather
Known problem with O-rings
Launch.
Boom.
Research
Engagement
Uptake
Impact
1) “the way that patterns of information, organizational structure, processes, and transactions, and the structure of regulatory relations systematically undermines the attempt to know and take decisions” in Vaugan, D The Challenger Launch Decision.

10. Research Engagement Uptake Impact
Letter gets widely published in known circles
30 Nobel Laureates and 300+ scientists write angry letter
Huge numbers of readers
(of the title)
So, how many votes will shift?
In which direction?
Lots of
climate change evidence
Research
Engagement
Uptake
Impact

11. Research Engagement Uptake Impact
High-level Global Landscapes Forum based on science
Donors and doers tick the outcome box
Effective dissemination &
capacity dev.
(quantity)
Small real influence through political systems
Lots of
research & evidence
How can we reach a billion and make a real difference?
Research
Engagement
Uptake
Impact

12. Impacting impact Engagement matters Social context matters
So many channels out there
Science outputs don’t go far when unsupported
Social context matters
The “truth” can be irrelevant
or not trusted
or be valued less than social agreement/beliefs
Research per se increasingly difficult sell
Cf all of the above
Donors want documented impact
How do we ensure we are not just another echo chamber?
Can we build bridges between evidence and beliefs?
Is it our job?
Do we need new types of partners?