[WLRC Nov 2023]: Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC,) in association with the Switzerland Eastern Africa Research Network organizes International the Cluster of Cooperation (CLOC) workshop on the 20th and 21st of November 2023 at Interluxury Hotel, Addis Ababa. The workshop is on “Science – policy interface for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” that aims to foster North-South and South –South partnerships for research and education.
The objective of the workshop is to present the results of the seven projects and provide visibility and strategic interaction to further develop and deepen their research areas in collaboration with key stakeholders from policy, civil society, and the private sector; to create an innovative and learning space to co-create future development pathways for impactful inter – and transdisciplinary research; and to co-create an outlook for meaningful partnerships between CLOC Eastern Africa Research network with policy and civil society partners.
The Director General of WLRC Dr. Gete Zeleke in his welcoming address states about the essence of cooperation and partnerships for achieving the SDGs in all endeavours. Dr. Gete shared the experience of WLRC in relation to SDGs referring the Academy 2030 project that has been worked with other partners under the Swiss Universities Development and Cooperation Network (SUDAC).
The Ambassador of the Switzerland Embassy in Ethiopia Tamara Mona expresses the readiness of the Swiss government to create cooperation and research networks towards achieving the SDGs. Ambassador Tamara Mona addresses the importance of the engagements of the Swiss governments on achieving SDGS through science – policy interface.
Mrs. Meseret Bekele, delegate of the State Minister for General Education of Ethiopia, states the demand of scientific evidence and research that brings all stakeholders’ relatively together as policy making is a process heavily based on scientific findings and facts. According to her, Ethiopia is striving to meet SDGs by 2030 working with different national and international development partners. Hence, the CLOC workshop has a potential to provide insightful cooperation and network pathways to achieve SDGs.
In the workshop a keynote speech delivered on “Science for sustainable development” by Dr. Thomas Breu, Director of the Centre for Development & Environment (CDE), University of Bern. In addition, seven seed money projects presented on agriculture and food security; urban migration and urban wellbeing; and education from Ethiopia and Kenya. The participants of the workshop are seven CLOC research projects in Ethiopia and Kenya and their partners, Swiss and Africa higher education institutions active in the CLOC Eastern Africa network, policy and decision makers active in Eastern Africa, and international and local NGOs active in Eastern Africa.