Evaluating the impact of the graduate fellowship programme of the International Livestock Research Institute. A tools and process report

Post graduate research projects are an effective method for building new research capacity in sub-Saharan Africa. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) offers a graduate fellowship programme for scientists from developing and developed countries. This is done in partnership with universities in African and Asian countries, Europe, Australia and North America. To date such programmes have not been adequately assessed to find the impact on national research capacity, the graduate fellows and the partner institutions. To assess the value of this training, ILRI conducted an impact study of its graduate fellows in Kenya and Ethiopia between 1978 and 1997. This report presents the tools and methods used in this study. Others may use these freely, but appropriate acknowledgement of the source will be appreciated. Future users may modify these instruments for their own impact studies; and indeed are encouraged to do so. We recognise that many improvements could be made and request feedback from others on how they have accomplished this. This report also presents part of the results to enable those interested in future impact studies in Ethiopia or Kenya to use the data as a benchmark

What is Effective Research Communication? Towards Cooperative Inquiry with Nunavut Communities

Communication is recognized as the foundation of developing partnerships in science. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of several communication processes, practices, and tools used by wildlife researchers in northern communities in Arctic Canada. A case study was conducted in the communities of Cape Dorset and Coral Harbour (Salliq), Nunavut, Canada, to assess the effectiveness of research communication approaches carried out by the northern marine bird research group of Environment and Climate Change Canada, which has a long-standing research relationship with these two communities. Our objectives were to 1) explore local experiences with research—marine bird research in particular, 2) examine what communication approaches and tools Nunavummiut viewed as most effective for learning about research activities and feeling engaged in the process, and 3) identify new and emerging communication needs in Nunavut communities to support more effective research partnerships. Our findings indicate that several communication methods used by wildlife researchers, such as community meetings, have become less effective because of changing information-sharing practices at the community level. Other communication practices, such as using social media, hold much promise, but as of yet are underutilized by researchers, though of interest to northern communities. Acknowledging that every northern community is unique, with context-specific priorities, capacities, and needs, effective research partnerships should be built upon communication approaches that foster cooperative inquiry and learning. In progress towards this goal, we explore two emerging and related themes: first, access to information and communication technologies in the two communities, and second, the engagement of youth in Arctic research communication and delivery.La communication est reconnue comme le fondement de la formation de partenariats en science. Dans le cadre de cette étude, nous évaluons l’efficacité de plusieurs processus, méthodes et outils de communication employés par les chercheurs de la faune dans des collectivités nordiques de l’Arctique canadien. Une étude de cas a été réalisée dans les collectivités de Cape Dorset et de Coral Harbour (Salliq), au Nunavut, Canada, afin d’évaluer l’efficacité des approches de communication en matière de recherches mises en œuvre par le groupe de recherche des oiseaux aquatiques du Nord relevant d’Environnement et Changement climatique Canada, qui effectue des recherches depuis plusieurs années dans ces deux collectivités. Nos objectifs étaient les suivants : 1) explorer les expériences locales en matière de recherche, plus particulièrement en ce qui a trait aux recherches sur les oiseaux aquatiques; 2) examiner quelles approches de communication et quels outils les Nunavummiuts considèrent comme les plus efficaces pour se familiariser avec les activités de recherche et pour se sentir engagés dans le processus; et 3) déterminer les besoins en communication nouveaux et émergents des collectivités du Nunavut afin de donner lieu à des partenariats de recherche plus efficaces. Selon nos constatations, plusieurs méthodes de communication employées par les chercheurs de la faune, comme les rencontres communautaires, ont perdu de leur efficacité en raison de l’évolution des pratiques de partage de l’information à l’échelle communautaire. D’autres méthodes de communication, comme les médias sociaux, s’avèrent prometteuses, mais les chercheurs ne s’en servent pas encore beaucoup même si elles revêtent de l’intérêt au sein des collectivités du Nord. Reconnaissant le caractère unique des collectivités nordiques, qui ont des priorités, des capacités et des besoins propres à leur contexte, la réalisation de partenariats de recherche efficaces doit se fonder sur des approches de communication favorisant l’apprentissage en collaboration. Dans l’optique de cet objectif, nous explorons deux thèmes émergents et connexes : premièrement, l’accès aux technologies de l’information et de la communication des deux collectivités, et deuxièmement, l’engagement des jeunes en matière de communication et de réalisation des recherches dans l’Arctique

Missing women: gender, ICTs and the shaping of the global economy

In a key article (Walsham & Sahay, 2005) outlining research on information systems in developing countries and suggesting potential areas for future research, a notable omission was the issue of gender and gender relations. In this article, we draw on the substantial gender and development literature to demonstrate the centrality of gender to our understanding of information systems (IS) in developing countries. In particular, we consider the relationship among gender, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and globalization to illustrate how changes in the global economy both impact on and are influenced by changing gender identities and roles. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, In