In 2022, ISDC brought back the Science Forum through two events in October and November. The Science Forum is a series of events initiated in 2009 under its remit of mobilizing science for development through international dialogue on critical issues in agricultural research. ISDC is renewing its commitment to these science dialogues with a focus on innovation with symposiums from 2022 to 2024.
The first event of 2022 was a virtual side event at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Science and Innovation Forum 2022 that discussed institutional innovation, while the second event took place in tandem with the 17th Meeting of the System Council at TropAg in Brisbane Australia and focused on inclusive innovation in international development.
The 2023 Science Forum will take place in Rabat, Morocco, on 19 October 2023, and will be hosted by ICARDA.
Innovation for Impact Growing Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion
- Date: 19 October 2023
- Time: 13:30-17:30 (UTC+1)
- Place: Online and on-site Hosted by ICARDA, Rabat , Morocco
Join ISDC’s 2023 Science Forum to engage and discover the latest agrifood innovation research in gender equality, youth, and social inclusion. The goal of the ISDC Science Forum is to explore and debate science for development through international dialogue on critical issues in agricultural research. The 2023 Forum is the second in a three-part series dedicated to innovation.
CGIAR has experienced transformational change during the past three years through its transition to One CGIAR. Through a content-packed agenda, three speakers will present their latest research on gender equality, youth, and social inclusion and present recommendations for CGIAR. The feasibility of these recommendations within CGIAR and the global agrifood research for development community will then be considered via two lively panel discussions. ISDC also will present its latest commissioned research on megatrends for this Impact Area. The megatrends’ implications for the CGIAR research portfolio will be a discussion during the CGIAR-focused panel.
ISDC Symposium at TropAg Conference: Building Inclusive Innovation in International Development
- Date: 1 November 2022
- Place: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia
The United Nations Food Systems Summit Scientific Group articulated the need to accelerate the promotion of inclusive innovation. Innovation is an important driver of economic growth and social well-being. What is required is a paradigm change. Namely, to move from instrumental inclusion designed to address excluded groups’ barriers to adoption, and toward transformational inclusion in processes of co-innovation.
Inclusiveness pertains not only to excluded actors in agrifood systems, such as poorer farmers cultivating more marginal lands, female and younger farmers, and entrepreneurs. The term also refers to domain expertise, breeds and crops, and research that may lie outside of mainstream attention yet hold strong promise to boost sustainable food and nutrition.
The ISDC Symposium “Building Inclusive Innovation in International Development” at TropAg Conference explored inclusive innovation as it relates to governance in research organizations, the local needs and lessons learned from farmers, the social responsibility in cocreation, and how inclusivity can aid sustainable agrifood systems.
ISDC Side Event at FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022: QoR4D to Strengthen Institutional Innovation
- Date: 13 October 2022
- Place: virtual
Background: Accelerating transformation of food, land, and water systems under climate crisis requires institutional innovations. The Quality of Research for Development (QoR4D) framework facilitates CGIAR System-wide agreement on what constitutes “quality” for problem-oriented research designed to have impact. Experience demonstrated that R4D criteria should extend beyond conventional research output or impact metrics (e.g., peer-reviewed publications and their citations) and should include relevance, scientific credibility, legitimacy (which includes local acceptance), and effectiveness. QoR4D was co-designed using a consultative process and involving representatives from entities across CGIAR leading or assessing research quality.
The virtual Side Event “QoR4D to Strengthen Institutional Innovation” at FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022 will explore how QoR4D can strengthen different levels of institutional innovations as it supports good governance in CGIAR and AR4D organizations.