IHEF 2024 forward look: Anisa Muzaffar, UK Collaborative on Development Research

The needs of countries, societies and people continue to evolve. The context provides a strong understanding on the divergent development pathways of countries and the disparities among them.

Research partnerships need to take into account the power imbalances between countries, making sure existing and future research collaborations are based on equity throughout the research lifecycle.

Drawing on the experience of funders, research organisations and researchers in low-, middle- and high-income countries, four approaches to supporting equity in research partnerships have been proposed*. The changes funders can implement in shaping the broader ecosystem within which partnerships are supported include:

• Drive change in how research is funded, by requiring evidence of equitable partnerships in grant awards and conditions, providing funding mechanisms to support equitable partnership development and co-creation processes, and direct funding to Southern researchers and institutions to enable them to lead multi-country research consortia and projects.
• Support research system strengthening in low-resource settings with humility and respect, including building in awareness of two-way learning across Northern and Southern contexts. 
• Provide clarity and confidence to Global South partners with long term, sustained partnership and funding arrangements.
• Strengthen research management and administration functions, often a crucial area of inequity between Northern and Southern partners. This needs to be included within research capacity strengthening approaches and requires a coordinated approach from research funders to drive change. 
• Partner with Southern funders, governments, and institutions to shift the focus of decision making and support development research to address Southern priorities.

Research can bring together multiple countries in inter- and trans-disciplinary partnerships. Both university and private sector expertise produce game-changing technologies, innovations and evidence, benefiting hundreds of millions of people in lower-income countries. For example, the Climate Science for Services Partnership (CSSP) Brazil involves interdisciplinary researchers from Australia, UK and Brazil that used information gathered from satellites, supercomputers, local communities and the behaviour of plant stomata to develop warning systems for people in the path of landslides, floods, and fires, saving both lives and livelihoods**.

Cross-collaborations between funders, research institutes, the private sector and research users bring benefits on multiple fronts. A consortium between Brunel University, Econotherm (UK company manufacturing heat pipes), Brazilian Mate tea producer Ervateira and Brazilian company SENAI, introduced a new method of drying Mate tea leaves in Brazil. The traditional method of producing Mate tea, a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused herbal drink, can release carcinogen. The project resulted in more efficient manufacturing processes, increased profits, and healthier Mate tea for consumers. It benefited an estimated 1,400,000 consumers by reducing the level of carcinogens, ensuring that it met international standards, and also expanded Ervateira’s Mate tea production by 25%.

To ensure we are listening better to those most in need, a focus on impact driven research, addressing real life challenges is needed. This should be supported by a transdisciplinary approach in forming partnerships and valuing local and indigenous knowledge. Such an approach will ensure greater involvement beyond the realms of academia and lead to the sharing of ideas, experiences and skills across different disciplines and stakeholders, including collaborative and participatory work with non-academic stakeholders, and engaging with local and diverse knowledge systems through multi-way continuous learning processes.

Equity needs to be firmly on the agenda when agreeing the policy, regulatory and financial approaches needed to support research partnerships for development. When higher education institutions proactively address equity in their research partnerships, it can help support research agendas relevant to affected communities, research system strengthening, and allow diverse knowledges to inform solutions.

In a contested and volatile world, science, research and evidence remain a shared language for cooperation in international development research. The UK needs to continue to build on its expertise in research towards achieving the greatest and most cost-effective development impact.

The UK will not be able to do this alone. The UK needs a reinvigorated approach to partnership based on mutual respect, giving leaders, communities and individuals a voice in shaping the solutions they want to see, rather than accepting the ones we think they need.

I am looking forward to the plenary session on the second day (2 May) called ‘better together: how international collaboration works.’ This event is highly relevant to UKCDR’s existing portfolio on work on equitable partnerships. It would be interesting to understand in more depth the role of higher education institutions in establishing these collaborations. Such insights would be informative and strengthen our understanding particularly in identifying the enablers that make these collaborations successful, and the challenges moving forward.

Join Anisa, a range of other expert speakers and panellists, and over 300 higher education sector experts on 1-2 May 2024 at Senate House. Secure your spot while tickets remain.