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ENHANCING HUMANITARIAN PRACTICE THROUGH GREATER KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
Project Proposal 2019-2022
December 2018
Contact:
Professor Doris Schopper
Director, Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action (CERAH)
20 rue Rothschild CP 136, 1211 Genève 21
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Table of Contents 1 THE HUMANITARIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA PROJECT AT A GLANCE ............................... 3
2 MAIN PROJECT FEATURES .......................................................................................... 4
2.1 RATIONALE ............................................................................................................................ 4 2.2 FOUR QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED ....................................................................................... 5 2.3 ROOTED IN HUMANITARIAN PRACTICE, EVIDENCE-BASED AND DIGITAL .................................... 6 2.4 BENEFITS FOR MANY STAKEHOLDERS ....................................................................................... 8 2.5 GOVERNANCE ........................................................................................................................ 11
3 THEORY OF CHANGE AND ROADMAP ..................................................................... 12
3.1 THEORY OF CHANGE ............................................................................................................. 12 3.2 PROJECT FOUNDATIONS 2017-2018 ........................................................................................ 13 3.3 PROJECT ROADMAP 2019-2022 .............................................................................................. 14
STRATEGIC WORKSTREAM 1: CONCEPTUALIZING: DESCRIBING CONCEPT USES ........................... 15 STRATEGIC WORKSTREAM 2: CONTEXTUALIZING AND ASSESSING THE IMPACT .......................... 16 STRATEGIC WORKSTREAM 3: CROWDSOURCE AND DISSEMINATE .............................................. 17
4 BUDGET & SUSTAINABILITY ...................................................................................... 19
4.1 BUDGETARY ELEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 19 4.2 PROJECT BUDGET 2019 TO 2022 ............................................................................................ 21 4.3 RISK MITIGATION AND SUSTAINABILITY ................................................................................ 22
5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 23
ANNEX 1: GOVERNANCE MEMBERSHIP ............................................................................ 24
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By interrogating how humanitarian
concepts are used, we support the reflective
involvement of an expanding range of
stakeholders, including the growing ranks of local actors in
crisis-affected areas and the digital generation of
humanitarians.
1 The Humanitarian Encyclopedia Project at a Glance
The Humanitarian Encyclopedia project offers to an increasingly diverse humanitarian community a clear and comprehensive reference framework, enhanced by local and contextualized knowledge, and the opportunity to use, share, and co-create further references.
By assessing different meanings, perceptions, uses and applications of humanitarian concepts, by leveraging academic research and engaging humanitarian stakeholders in reflecting on these, and by offering an innovative digital knowledge-sharing tool, the Humanitarian Encyclopedia platform and partners:
Improve mutual understanding among practitioners by equipping them with a tool to understand each other’s stance on humanitarian action and thus to improve communication and coordination
Accompany the localization of humanitarian knowledge by reflecting how emerging humanitarian actors and local community leaders understand and perceive humanitarian action and thus contribute to a ‘new’ humanitarian narrative
Make the sector more legible to external stakeholders such as media, governments, military, and the general public
Contribute to the training of current and future generations of humanitarian practitioners and the enhancement of humanitarian studies
About the CERAH
CERAH, the Geneva Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action, is a joint initiative of the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID). Bringing together a multitude of academic and humanitarian actors, the CERAH offers a wide range of postgraduate programmes for humanitarian professionals and a research portfolio in humanitarian studies, both of which strengthen reflection on and enhance humanitarian practice.
With a clear mission to empower people around the world to prepare for and respond to crises more effectively, the CERAH has developed the Humanitarian Encyclopedia to contribute to more effective humanitarian action. This is done through a clear and comprehensive reference framework, as well as the opportunity to use, share, and co-create further references within an online, open source platform. Its broad stakeholder base, including academia and humanitarian organizations worldwide, allows the CERAH to pursue multicultural and highly participatory perspectives in all of its endeavours.
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About 65 % of the humanitarian
professionals surveyed agree that humanitarian
actors use the same terms – in a sector
specific way – to refer to different realities hence
hampering the communication between
humanitarian stakeholders and
between them and non-humanitarian actors.
2 Main Project Features
2.1 Rationale Humanitarian action has expanded and diversified in unprecedented ways in recent decades, due to growing needs – including ever more protracted crises of a massive scale – and the increasingly strategic importance of humanitarian aid in international crisis-management. In 2017, the international humanitarian response hit historical highs with assistance reaching USD 27.3 billion globallyi.
Although institutions and NGOs of high-income countries in Europe and North America are still major players, the low- and middle-income countries are challenging the traditional foundations of humanitarian action. The so-called ‘humanitarian sector’ counts an estimated 570,000 people working in some 4,500 organizationsii. And this takes no account of the tens of thousands of individual and spontaneous initiatives in response to crises, including but not limited to diasporas. This snapshot shows unprecedented diversity of cultural, organizational, and professional profiles, which are hardly captured by existing narratives largely focusing on the values and practices of long-established organizations of high-income countries. Little is known of its impact on humanitarian action, and a conceptual frame with which to analyse this is lacking.
A humanitarian conceptual frame must reflect the specificities of the sector, which reside in the objectives of humanitarian action (save lives and alleviate the suffering of crisis-affected populations), the context of crises in which humanitarian programming is developed, and the body of norms, standards, and principles regulating the sector. Concepts such as ‘humanity’,
‘neutrality’, ‘impartiality’ and ‘independence’ are still considered central to humanitarian action. Strengthening the ‘resilience’ of ‘affected communities’ and being ‘accountable towards populations’ are an increasingly shared agenda. ‘Safeguarding’ has emerged as a highly contentious and urgent issue. Yet, this rhetorical consensus hides a variety of definitions, understanding, use, and interpretation. For example, no less than 63 different definitions of ‘resilience’ have been identified across the humanitarian sectoriii.
At the operational level, the lack of clarity on the diverse uses and meanings of concepts creates confusion and miscommunication between and among humanitarian practitioners. From a policy-making perspective, by using the same concept to refer to different realities, humanitarian practitioners send blurred messages to decision makers. At a time where practitioners are called upon to increase the local ownership of humanitarian programmes, key concepts must be contextualized and
adapted to the local reality of crisis-affected communities and actors. This presupposes that practitioners are able to grasp how and why concepts central to humanitarian practice are divergently used and defined.
To address these challenges, the Humanitarian Encyclopedia collectively interrogates how humanitarian concepts are used across time, geographical contexts, organizational cultures, disciplinary backgrounds, and professions. It aims at creating a common, improved, and deeper
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understanding of fundamental approaches to bring about greater coherence and effectiveness of humanitarian action worldwide.
2.2 Four questions to be addressed The project addresses four specific questions. These will be answered sequentially with some overlap during the 5-year project cycle.
WHAT are the most salient concepts and clusters of concepts in humanitarian practice? Contrary to existing glossaries, handbooks, and dictionaries where the selection of analysed concepts is not justified and often reflect the authors’ interestsiv, the structure of the Encyclopedia is defined through a rigorous and participatory methodology, reflecting the priorities of humanitarian practitioners.
HOW are key concepts commonly and divergently used by humanitarian practitioners? Existing reference documents on humanitarian concepts, taken individually or as a whole, fail to explore and explain how concepts central to humanitarian practice are used by a wide range of stakeholders. To answer this question, the Humanitarian Encyclopedia applies an innovative interdisciplinary research approach.
WHY are concepts used divergently? Based on the results of the descriptive analysis of concepts, case studies are selected in partnership with humanitarian actors to explore how historical, organizational, cultural, and discipline-related factors give concepts their distinct meaning over time.
What is the IMPACT of concept variation on humanitarian practices? The Humanitarian Encyclopedia assesses the impact of the lack of a shared conceptual framework at the operational level, examining the consequences on inter-organizational trust, on the effectiveness of humanitarian strategies, and on the perception of the humanitarian community by local, national, and international actors. Strategies to mitigate negative impact are proposed.
Co-designing the structure of the Humanitarian Encyclopedia
A three-pronged research approach was designed to answer the question ‘What are the most salient concepts and clusters of concepts in humanitarian practice?’:
1. Examining the terminology used by humanitarian organizations through a content-analysis of strategic and general documents (n=478)
2. Asking humanitarian practitioners about their understanding of concepts and what they perceive as the most salient concepts through a consultative online survey (n=1060)
3. Organizing 8 workshops in various world regions to further explore: What are the most central concepts in day to day practices and why? Which concepts are lacking? Which concept groupings emerge?
The results of these research activities are integrated to select approximately 100 concepts for analysis. Encyclopedia entries focus on single concepts but also on concept groupings – i.e. systems of concepts based on thematic proximity – and on transversal issues. Practitioners play a leading role in this concept selection process taking place in 2018. They shape the Humanitarian Encyclopedia architecture. The final selection of 129 key concepts and their associated concepts was validated by the governing bodies in November 2018.
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2.3 Rooted in humanitarian practice, evidence-based, and digital The Humanitarian Encyclopedia is based on three pillars: a strong engagement of humanitarian practitioners; evidence-based analysis led by scholars in collaboration with humanitarian actors; and an interactive digital platform.
ENGAGING HUMANITARIAN PRACTITIONERS
The engagement and commitment of humanitarian workers is vital for the Encyclopedia, underpinning both its relevance and sustainability. Humanitarian actors and stakeholders connected with humanitarian action:
• co-develop a conceptual framework that informs analyses and decision making in the humanitarian sector;
• contribute to concept analysis through critical review, recommendations, and suggestions;
• contextualize how humanitarian concepts are used in different organizational, cultural and humanitarian realities, confronting the theoretical analysis to contemporary field challenges; and
• empower a dynamic community of practice on line.
Eight workshops have taken place in different world regions (Asia, Middle-East, East- and West Africa) in 20181 to assess core concepts used in daily practice and their particular saliency in languages other than English. Regional needs for research products and the capacity to contribute to knowledge sharing are assessed. The Humanitarian Encyclopedia, initially produced in English, will integrate other key languages to serve a diverse constituency.
1 An additional workshop will take place in Mexico in February 2019.
Documenting the diversity of the humanitarian sector
4500? 800? 9000? Estimations and hearsay on the number of organizations involved in humanitarian action abound, while no database currently exists to document such diversity. As a very first step, a database of humanitarian organizations (n ≈ 2500) has been set up by compiling and curating existing lists of humanitarian organizations1 and identifying additional ones. Organizations included work in an emergency/chronic emergency context and self-define their goals and a substantial part of activities using the following key words: ‘humanitarian’, ‘emergency’, ‘relief’, ‘disaster’, ‘crisis’. Information was collected through websites and activity reports and includes date of creation, organizational type, location of headquarters, location of field operations, types of activities, specific groups on which activities are focused, and whether the organization defines itself as faith-based.
This database, primed for public release online in 2019, opens the possibility for organizations to register and to correct/update their information. This open-source database is a reference tool of and for humanitarian partners, who will be mobilized throughout the project.
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EVIDENCE-BASED ANALYSES
The Humanitarian Encyclopedia bridges scholarly research and practice, allowing practitioners to base analysis and strategy on trusted sources of evidence. The analysis of concepts is based on a transparent and replicable approach.
An innovative interdisciplinary research approach builds synergies and promotes cross-fertilization between:
Experts in concept and content analysis: The Humanitarian Encyclopedia draws on the latest advances in linguistic, data-mining, and computer science to analyse the diversity of humanitarian language in a large corpus of reference documents including peer-reviewed publication, books, existing glossaries, reports, and position papers from humanitarian organizations.
Disciplinary experts in humanitarian action: The project brings together experts from all the disciplines producing knowledge of humanitarian action. Working together, these experts interpret the results of the text-based analysis of concepts, provide complementary data, and develop research protocols to analyse the causes and impacts of concept variation.
Emerging and long-standing research traditions on humanitarian action: Beyond interdisciplinarity, the Humanitarian Encyclopedia brings together a large array of cultural and historical perspectives on humanitarian action. Participants from crisis-affected states in the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Asia, and Latin America shed a common light on how to grasp ‘non-traditional’ and emerging uses of humanitarian concepts.
The active involvement of the end-users of the Humanitarian Encyclopedia is essential at each stage of the research process, increasing the impact of the research and its appropriation. Humanitarian practitioners will:
Define the scope of the research, by selecting the entries of the Humanitarian Encyclopedia;
Identify research questions and hypotheses;
Contribute to the data collection process;
Critically discuss the research results by providing complementary insights on best practices and operational challenges in applying concepts on the ground.
Drawing upon the disciplinary expertise and research traditions of its scholarly experts, the Humanitarian Encyclopedia adopts a mixed-methods approach to the collection and analysis of data in the humanitarian sector. Qualitative and quantitative techniques will be used including quantitative analyses, case studies, focus groups, interviews, and experimental methods.
AN INTERACTIVE AND INCLUSIVE ONLINE PLATFORM
The knowledge and understanding of humanitarian action requires a digital platform tool conceived as a space for collaboration and co-production. The interactive and inclusive online platform invites dialogue from anyone concerned with humanitarian aid, in order capture existing knowledge, share institutional and operational challenges, and formulate problems and research questions.
The Humanitarian Encyclopedia platform is composed of four main elements (figure 1). • A digital working space for stakeholders to learn and contribute • Participative tools for the online community to produce new sources of knowledge • Storage, archiving, and referencing capacity for knowledge products
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• Concept visualization and dissemination tools
A digital working space with sign-up access facilitates collaboration among academics and humanitarian actors and allows real-time interactions from anywhere in the world. Participatory tools (e.g. blogging platform, collaborative question/answer centre, personal presentation space) supports user participation and enables the aggregation of content. Furthermore, data collected through participatory tools will be archived in documentary bases that can be analysed in the future. As the humanitarian sector by nature functions in emergency settings, the platform provides long-term data storage and analysis, and thus offers the sector a ‘living memory’.
To ensure active participation of the main target audiences, humanitarian practitioners and academics are invited to co-construct the digital environment. It is designed progressively, adopting an agile development approach. Information architecture is designed based on assessed needs and expectations. During regional workshops in 2018, humanitarian practitioners assess the informational elements they expect; examine potential enhancers and barriers to their active participation; and are invited as beta testers during the development phase.
Figure 1. The four main elements of the Encyclopedia platform
The platform presents concept analyses and research results. Entries are formed by single concepts; conceptual systems, referring to a set of interrelated concepts; and, transversal issues pertaining to causes and consequences of concept variation of humanitarian practice. It also presents a diversity of case studies and multi-media tools for dynamic learning and dissemination.
The digital platform is designed with an open approach to engage, complement, and cross-fertilize various initiatives in the sector that can immediately leverage the knowledge developed. It facilitates integration into the training cycles and digital platforms of humanitarian stakeholders.
2.4 Benefits for many stakeholders
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Our goal is that a more informed humanitarian community delivers quality programmes more effectively, thanks to shared and localized analyses as well as improved dialogue among stakeholders. Therefore, the ultimate beneficiaries are the populations affected by humanitarian crises. However, more specifically, the main beneficiaries of the Humanitarian Encyclopedia are active and future humanitarian actors, particularly field-based managers. Additionally, a variety of stakeholders indirectly involved in front-line humanitarian action are key beneficiaries (figure 2).
Figure 2. The project benefits many stakeholders of the humanitarian sector
HUMANITARIAN AID PROVIDERS
Humanitarian organizations – locally, nationally, regionally, and internationally – gain easy access to a comprehensive body of knowledge on humanitarian action through this dynamic platform and tools, fostering self-critical analyses. They access the collective capital of experiences, analyses of lessons learned, and best practices as well as common insights for evidence-based decision and policy making. They therefore benefit from and contribute to enhanced critical analysis and more informed decision making as well as improved planning and programming, including better assessment of the operational environment.
HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT GROUPS
Many groups support the humanitarian sector without being operational agencies such as the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, ALNAP, Sphere, ACAPS, PHAP, CHS Alliance. These groups are key partners for the Encyclopedia, benefitting from and contributing to its content, as their knowledge bases are disseminated through the Encyclopedia platform.
POLICY MAKERS, GOVERNMENTS, AID AGENCIES, AND DONORS
Many of the benefits stated above contribute real value to a diverse range of policy makers. In addition, the Humanitarian Encyclopedia provides them with relevant material for more informed policy and decision making, offering value through support to innovation in the sector through contextualization. The enhanced quality of planning and programming aims to better meet the needs of host countries and aid agencies seeking enhanced effectiveness and
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efficiency in their investments. The research and consultation process of the project feeds on-going discussions around professionalization and qualitative processes within the sector.
ACADEMIA
The project caters to an academic community researching and teaching humanitarian action, and academics in general interested in interdisciplinary approaches. The scientific importance of the project is enhanced by the current dearth of cross- and inter-disciplinary analyses. The project provides a milestone in the scholarship of contemporary humanitarian aid and benefits academia by filling gaps in the academic literature and developing an analytical framework; providing empirical evidence by analysing how these concepts can be operationalized; and building bridges between scholars and practitioners – a true science, policy, practice interface.
OTHER STAKEHOLDERS
Development and peace-building actors, human rights organizations, civil society, the media, and the general public gain better understanding of the stakes involved in and discourses around humanitarian action. Other stakeholders, such as the private sector and the military, increasingly engaged in humanitarian aid, can seek accelerated awareness among their staff and gain deeper understanding of conceptual references to underpin their operations.
AFFECTED POPULATIONS AND DIASPORAS
As an aspirational outcome of the Humanitarian Encyclopedia, we ultimately aim to benefit populations affected by conflict or disaster through enhanced programme quality. Furthermore, community leaders as well as diaspora organizations also stand to gain from a better understanding of humanitarian concepts and mastering of humanitarian terminology by open access to this online platform. With growing participation at each level and stage of humanitarian action, these communities also contribute to the contextualization of knowledge.
How humanitarian actors explain further their interest in the project • It increases their visibility on the international scene by enabling them to share
their experience in a rigorous manner, to explain their approaches, and to disseminate their lessons learned in a neutral space.
• It increases their visibility as they are able to share their modus operandi in complex crises, making others aware about their specificity, experience, and expertise and therefore gaining recognition of the quality of their work.
• It supports learning at individual and organizational level by gaining theoretical and empirical knowledge, having access to others’ perspectives, and approaches, and a better understanding of criteria and indicators to measure the operationalization of concepts.
• It empowers them in their ability to capitalize upon their experience in a structured way, applying a systematic analytical process.
• It allows deconstruction of preconceived ideas, specifically when it comes to so-called ‘new’ concepts, e.g. localization.
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2.5 Governance
Two groups constitute the governance of the project guiding its design and implementation: The Advisory Board and the Scientific Committee (see composition in Annex 1).
While the Scientific Committee includes selected academic leaders from research centres and academic institutions, the Advisory Board includes representatives from a large range of humanitarian organizations with a mix of personal experience, professional expertise, geographical locations, and cultural origins. Donors may be invited to join the Advisory Board to contribute to strategic thinking and orientation of the Encyclopedia.
The Advisory Board is currently composed of 20 representatives from 16 operational organizations and 4 humanitarian support groups. Its role is to: Critically examine the development of the project Provide strategic direction Offer advice and provide input at specific stages of the process Support outreach activities Develop new ideas for future activities
The Scientific Committee is composed of 21 scholars from research centres and academic institutions from around the world, who have an in-depth understanding of humanitarian action and come from a variety of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Its role is to: Validate the annual research agenda Guarantee a sound research methodology and ensure quality Ensure that research ethical guidelines are respected Oversee the editorial process and participate in reviews as members of editorial
committees
The governing bodies met for the first time in person in June 2017, had a further virtual meeting in February and March 2018, and a second in-person meeting in November 2018. Members from these bodies are already actively engaged in the activities of the Encyclopedia.
More scholars are currently joining the project to participate in the research process, in field research and as expert-authors over the next years.
CERAH will retain global oversight and responsibility of the project, integrating guidance from the governance groups. CERAH hosts the project, is responsible for the overall management, and ensures its quality both in terms of academic research and project management.
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A more informed humanitarian community delivers quality programmes more effectively thanks to shared and localized analyses as well as improved dialog among stakeholders
Improved mutual understanding and
sector legibility
Accompanied localization of
humanitarian knowledge
Enhanced training of future humanitarians
A broad constituency of local, regional, and global humanitarian stakeholders engages in more reflective, effective and innovative humanitarian decision making.
The 'living' Humanitarian Encyclopedia enables this by offering the humanitarian community a clear and comprehensive reference framework, as well as localized knowledge and the opportunity to use, share, and co-create further references on its online platform.
By 2021, humanitarian stakeholders use an
enhanced conceptual framework informed by
cross-cultural, interdisciplinary and
multi-sectorial perspectives
CONCEPTUALIZE
Develop a conceptual framework that will inform analyses and
decision making in the humanitarian sector,
through a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary and multi-sectorial non-
prescriptive approach, describing concept uses
By 2021, humanitarian stakeholders are
cognisant of the impact of divergent uses of
concepts and empowered to mitigate
such impact
CONTEXTUALIZE& ASSESS IMPACT
Through field research and in close partnership with
humanitarian actors, identify the impact of
divergent uses of concepts on humanitarian practice
and explore how these can be mitigated
By 2020, humanitarian stakeholders nurture and share further knowledge,
based on the reflective analysis of their own
practice
CO-CREATE
Translate the product of academic analyses and action research cycles
through co-creation into materials relevant for learning, operational
planning, policy dialogue, institutional positioning, and operational choices
By 2020, a broad and diverse set of humanitarian
stakeholders participate in the integration and dissemination of new knowledge and tools
CROWDSOURCE & DISSEMNINATE
Establish a dynamic, online, open access
platform for a core set of knowledge and tools, and ensure that partnerships
support ongoing crowdsourcing and
dissemination
3 Theory of Change and Roadmap
3.1 Theory of Change
Out
com
es
Goa
l O
bjec
tive
C
ore
acti
viti
es
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3.2 Project Foundations 2017-2018 The Encyclopedia develops over a period of five years, from July 2017 to June 2022.
The initial development phase laid the foundations in 2017 and 2018, generously supported by the Government of Switzerland, the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and the Loterie Romande (Switzerland).
ACHIEVEMENTS BY THE END OF 2018
Structure of the Humanitarian Encyclopedia is defined by responding to the first research question: ‘What are the most salient concepts and clusters of concepts in humanitarian practice?’
Database of humanitarian organizations (n ≈ 2500) completed to be made available online for comments and further inclusions
Analysis of 478 strategic and general documents to identify concepts strategically used by humanitarian organizations and explore how such concepts are differently used based on organizational patterns
Survey of 1060 humanitarian professionals to grasp practitioners’ experience with regards to concept variation and its impact on practice
Innovative interdisciplinary research approach defined and validated by governing bodies
Series of eight regional workshops conducted to further elicit input from humanitarian practitioners
Digital platform features defined catering to the needs of academics and humanitarian practitioners
Thus, so far the focus has been on validating the case for investment, rallying critical partners, and initiating the concept selection work, while planning for the strategic next steps.
In 2018, the question ‘WHAT are the most salient concepts and clusters of concepts in humanitarian practice?’ was answered. This is the foundation for the three strategic workstreams guiding the project in the subsequent 3½ years.
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3.3 Project Roadmap 2019-2022 The strategic workstreams presented in the Project Roadmap for 2019-2022 are closely interconnected and complement each other (figure 3). The timeline for each workstream is presented on page 18 and related budgetary figures are provided in section 4.
Figure 3. Three strategic workstreams on a solid foundation
About terms and concepts Concepts are constituents of thoughts which are crucial to processes such as categorization, inference, memory, learning, and decision making. Concepts arise as abstractions or generalizations from experience. Studying concepts bridges linguistic divides by looking at the idea to which a concept refers. This implies studying how people use concepts and understanding, based on the analysis of the terms used, the abstract idea to which concepts refer. Hence, compared with terms, concepts are specific constructs since they have:
• a descriptive power: they enable us to identify the relevant and necessary dimensions to describe a specific real-life phenomenon; and
• an explanatory power: concepts help forging explanations about specific phenomena.
The validity of concepts is only of a relative nature: they are helpful as long as they enable t d li ti d b t ti f ifi i
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Strategic workstream 1:
CONCEPTUALIZING: DESCRIBING CONCEPT USES This workstream answers two interrelated questions: ‘HOW are concepts divergently and commonly used by humanitarian practitioners?’ and ‘WHY are concepts used divergently?’
Outcome: Humanitarian stakeholders use an enhanced conceptual framework informed by interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and multi-organizational perspectives
Outputs:
129 key concepts included in an online platform with accompanying synthesis of how the concept is defined by different humanitarian actors, as well as visual tools for easy understanding of the concepts
A data hub gathering textual data on concept uses, data on concept operationalization, and data on the organizational and disciplinary diversity of the humanitarian sector
Up to 20 transversal entries focusing on the reasons for divergent uses of concepts and analysing how concepts evolve and travel in the humanitarian sector
Training modules and educational webinars on the most salient concepts
Online discussion fora engaging humanitarian practitioners to debate research results and share their uses of concepts
A space for sharing of best practices and guidelines on specific concepts by humanitarian practitioners
Access to a network of leading scholarly experts on humanitarian action
Core actions:
1.1. Constitution of a large corpus of textual sources ranging from academic articles, books, and existing glossaries to reports and position papers from humanitarian organizations
1.2. Development of an automatized content analysis methodology for the corpus by a team of linguists, terminologists, computer scientists, and experts in textual data mining and content analysis
1.3. Analysis of 129 concepts by interdisciplinary teams of experts to emphasize divergences and commonalities in concept uses
1.4. Design of tools to present research results meeting the needs of humanitarian practitioners, notably including visualization tools, short summaries, and training materials
1.5. Creation of dynamic activities in online spaces for humanitarian actors to share their practice in operationalizing concepts and discuss experiences and challenges, thus creating enhanced knowledge related to specific concepts and themes
1.6. Definition of criteria to assess and measure concepts based on research results and best practices contributed by humanitarian actors
1.7. Survey to analyse the diversity of contemporary humanitarian professionals
1.8. Selection of cases studies, in collaboration with humanitarian practitioners, to analyse causes of concept variation within the humanitarian sector focusing on geographical origin of the organization/practitioner, organizational culture and structure, and the disciplinary background of the humanitarian practitioners.
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Strategic workstream 2:
CONTEXTUALIZING AND ASSESSING THE IMPACT This workstream answers the question ‘What is the IMPACT of concept variation on humanitarian practices?’ This workstream will be further defined in collaboration with academic and humanitarian partners in 2019.
Outcomes: Humanitarian practitioners are cognisant of the impacts of concept variation on humanitarian practice and are equipped with evidence-based analyses to mitigate such impacts.
Outputs:
Up to 20 transversal entries focusing on the impact of divergent uses of concepts on humanitarian practice, including synthetic articles and visual tools for easy understanding
Case studies focusing on selected sets of concepts to assess the impact
Policy recommendations on how to mitigate the negative impacts of concept variation
Training modules ‘Understanding the impacts of conceptual variation on humanitarian practice’
Core actions:
2.1. Analyse how divergent concept uses influence coordination and mutual understanding among humanitarian practitioners
2.2. Identification, with humanitarian practitioners, of the potential impacts of divergent uses of concepts on humanitarian practice and development of a methodology to assess them
2.3. Assessment of the impacts of divergent uses of concepts on humanitarian practices at the operational level for selected concepts; positive as well as negative consequences are explored through case studies developed in partnership with humanitarian actors
2.4. Based on the results of workstream 1, selection of cases studies to analyse how concept variation negatively impacts the perception and understanding of humanitarian action for other stakeholders
2.5. Development of training modules
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Strategic workstream 3:
CROWDSOURCE AND DISSEMINATE This workstream supports workstreams 1 and 2 by providing a structured and moderated digital space allowing various interactions over time.
Outcome: A broad and diverse set of humanitarian stakeholders participate in the creation and dissemination of new knowledge and tools, thus contributing and benefitting at the same time.
Outputs:
An open access and user-friendly digital tool conducive to interaction between and across diverse communities
A platform catering to three interrelated needs:
o Search for a concept entry and related terms
o Search for specific data and archives
o Connect to and exchange with a broader community
A database of ≥ 2’500 humanitarian organisations available online for comments and further inclusions
Participative online tools to facilitate humanitarian practitioners’ contribution
Engagement of a growing community of humanitarian stakeholders in sharing knowledge and generating new knowledge
Core actions:
3.1. Development of a digital tool based on assessed needs and expectations of humanitarians and scholars. The digital interface will be developed in phases with a consumer review at each phase; a participation strategy will be implemented to meets users’ expectations and needs. As much as possible, open source features are used in the platform development to facilitate maintenance and digital product evolution.
3.2. Creation of a safe digital space for the academic and humanitarian communities engaging in the project worldwide. Their interactions are facilitated thanks to dedicated on-line working spaces, which also support data collection.
3.3. Ongoing development and update of the database of humanitarian organisations, used as basis for further engagement of humanitarian actors.
3.4. Definition of an on-line knowledge management strategy to ensure that high-quality content is easily accessible and adapted to the target audience.
3.5. Ongoing engagement of humanitarian practitioners to share knowledge and practice and generate new knowledge through meta-analyses.
Already underway, the Encyclopedia is envisaged as a 5-year project cycle from June 2017 to June 2022. Main milestones to be achieved over the next 3 1/2-year project period are shown in Table 1.
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Table 1. Timeline of main project activities 2019-2022
Year 2019 2020 2021 2022
Quarter 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
SW1 Describing CONCEPT USES
1.1 Constitution of a large corpus of textual sources
1.2 Development of an automatized content analysis methodology
1.3 Analysis of 129 concepts by interdisciplinary experts
1.4 Design of data visualisation tools to present research results
1.5 Moderated online spaces for humanitarian actors to share their practice
1.6 Definition of criteria to assess and measure concepts
1.7 Survey to analyse the diversity of contemporary humanitarian professionals
1.8 Cases studies in collaboration with humanitarian practitioners to analyse causes of concept variation
SW2 Assessing the IMPACT
2.1 Analyse how divergent concept uses influence coordination and mutual understanding between humanitarian practitioners
2.2 Identification, with humanitarian practitioners, of the potential impacts of divergent uses of concepts on humanitarian practice
2.3 Assessment of the impacts of divergent uses of concepts on humanitarian practices at the operational level (case studies with hum. actors)
2.4 Analyse how concept variation negatively impacts the perception and understanding of humanitarian action for other stakeholders (case studies)
2.5 Development of training modules
SW3 CROWDSOURCE AND DISSEMINATE
3.1 Development of the Encyclopedia digital tool
3.2 Creation of safe digital working space for academic and humanitarian communities
3.3 Ongoing development and update of the database of humanitarian organisations, used as basis for further engagement of humanitarian actors
3.4 Definition and test of on-line knowledge management strategy
3.5 Ongoing engagement of humanitarian practitioners in knowledge co-creation
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4 Budget & Sustainability Funding is required for the implementation and dissemination phase of the project over the next budgetary period 2019-2022. The total estimated budget for the next period is CHF 2.98 million (EUR 2.65 million), with peak funding in 2019 and 2020 and a decrease in 2021 and 2022. This does not include considerable in-kind contributions by academic and humanitarian partners.
4.1 Budgetary elements
Research coordination is essential to ensure high quality outcomes in SW 1 and 2. Many academics (university professors, scholars from humanitarian think tanks, etc.), including members of the Scientific Committee, will contribute in-kind to the concept analyses.
Field research is conducted by academics in collaboration with humanitarian practitioners. Most academics will provide their own time pro bono, but financial support will be needed for field research activities.
Experts workshops: although the online platform will be the central working tool for the academic community, face to face meetings are essential for an in-depth exchange.
Academic quality assurance, scientific peer and editorial review: to guarantee the quality and the content of academic production, peer and editorial reviews have to be organized and funded. Part of this is also covered by in-kind participation of academics.
A knowledge manager engages humanitarian actors, ensures quality of contributions, moderates fora, develops webinars, and proposes meta-analyses of shared knowledge.
Public conferences are organized annually to discuss and reflect on research results and increase engagement of the target communities. Scientific open access publications allow dissemination of research results (fees per publication).
Platform development: Data architecture, user experience, and user interface design are prerequisites of any platform development. The most important development costs, including proper user segmentation and needs assessment, will occur in 2018/2019. The collaborative part of the online platform will facilitate exchanges and collaboration around the globe, and save travel and face to face meeting costs.
Product development is necessary to translate research results into useful products for a range of audiences including visualization tools, easy-to-grasp summaries, training materials, videos, etc.
Data storage and maintenance: data will be stored in Europe under European data protection laws and regulations. Maintenance of the platform and small additional developments should be partially supported through a specific business model (fees for specific services).
Governance: Advisory Board and the Scientific Committee will meet once a year in person, with a joint meeting between the two bodies. A second annual meeting is virtual at no cost.
The project manager is responsible for overall project management including monitoring and evaluation, platform development, and community management. Additional support is needed for communication, administration, and logistics.
The budget does not include the very significant in-kind contributions by academic and humanitarian partners. These include two professors at the University of Geneva (0.7 full time equivalent - FTE) and one professor at the University of Groningen (0.3 FTE) leading the
Advisory Board and Scientific Committee Meetings
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research; scientific committee members and other academics working in expert teams and conducting field research (SW1); humanitarian organizations providing in-kind support for workshops and field missions.
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4.2 Project budget 2019 to 2022
Estimated Budget Humanitarian Encyclopedia 2019-mid 2022 (in Swiss Francs)
2019 2020 2021 2022 (Q1 + Q2) 2019 to mid 2022Field research & Experts workshops 196'586 118'293 41'793 20'896 377'568Academic quality insurance 5'040 5'040
Research coordination and Knowledge Management 180'282 90'141 270'423376'868 213'474 41'793 20'896 653'031
Field research & Experts workshops 118'293 179'793 44'896 342'982Academic quality assurance 5'040 10'080 10'080 25'200
Research coordination and Knowledge Management 90'141 180'282 90'141 360'5640 213'474 370'155 145'118 728'747
Platform development 185'000 50'000 235'000Product development 30'000 55'000 70'000 30'000 185'000Data storage and platform maintenance 0 30'000 50'000 50'000 130'000Community & Knowledge manager 131'439 131'439 131'439 65'720 460'038Conferences and events 20'000 20'000 20'000 20'000 80'000
366'439 286'439 271'439 165'720 1'090'038Project oversight and
management 122'566 122'566 122'566 73'783 441'480865'873 835'953 805'953 405'517 2'913'295
Contributions in-kind Professors, scholars, humanitarian partners Financements projet acquis Government of Switzerland 200'000 200'000 200'000 100'000 700'000
Government Luxemburg 160'000 160'000 160'000 450'00050'000 100'000 150'000 70'000 370'000
410'000 460'000 510'000 170'000 1'520'000Additional funds to be raised 455'873 375'953 295'953 235'517 1'393'295
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS (w/o pro-bono)
Research funding requested
Strategic Workstream 1HOW & WHY
Strategic Workstream 2IMPACT
Strategic Workstream 3DISSEMINATE
TOTAL DIRECT COSTS (w/o pro bono)Contributions
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4.3 Risk mitigation and sustainability The breakthrough potential of the Encyclopedia is reinforced by a sound risk mitigation strategy. The following main risks have been identified for the next budgetary period.
A SHARED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
A central risk lies in not achieving a shared conceptual framework useful for humanitarian practitioners and used in practice. We assume, based on preparatory interviews and the survey, that humanitarian practitioners have a shared interest in achieving greater clarity on concept definitions and uses. This may not be the case for all of them. Indeed, some actors may take advantage of the lack of clarity of terms/concepts in furthering specific agendas. Other actors may be tempted to strive for a single definition, imposing their views. This risk is mitigated by the fact that we do not aim to provide a single and prescriptive definition of concepts, rather respecting divergences and creating a space for dialogue and greater mutual understanding.
KNOWLEDGE QUALITY
To ensure uptake and continuous engagement of all stakeholders the quality of the knowledge and information provided is paramount. First and foremost, scientific quality is guaranteed by a rigorous, replicable methodology. This effort will be supported by a large scientific community, which will be accountable for the process and the results. In addition, a clear editorial chart and continuous monitoring shall decrease the risk of inadequate or low-quality contributions by humanitarian and other stakeholders.
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The project relies on an interdisciplinary research process, which is an opportunity but also a challenge. Some researchers may be reluctant to leave their comfort zone and cooperate with researchers from a distant disciplinary field. This is mitigated by the fact that a growing number of researchers from various disciplinary fields are already involved in the project and have clearly expressed their interest in contributing to this endeavour. In addition, experts in interdisciplinary research methodology will support to the project.
DISSEMINATION
A further challenge, beyond providing original and high-quality content, is to ensure that this high-quality content finds its audience and is effectively disseminated in a very complex and overcrowded environment. The project needs the support of a critical mass of humanitarian actors to scale up. The response so far is very promising as several major agencies and international support groups as well as actors from low- and middle-income countries have already embraced the project formally. Concerted efforts, and in particular the dynamics created by the Humanitarian Organization Database, will allow for the engagement of a multitude of actors, not yet able to participate in the international discourse on humanitarian action.
CULTURES AND LINGUISTICS
Another risk relates to the use of monolingual textual resources to analyse concepts that vary along geographical and cultural lines. This risk is partially mitigated by focusing on concepts that bridge linguistic divides and by analysing the general idea to which a concept refers. At the same time, the academic network includes scholars in linguistics, anthropology, and other social sciences who have already investigated the extent to which geographical and cultural variations in the uses of concepts are due to linguistic factors. We are further exploring with humanitarian practitioners and scholars, how other prominent languages of the sector, such as French, Arabic, and Spanish, could be taken into consideration during the implementation phase.
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MEETING WEB USERS’ NEEDS
Survival on the web can be a challenge. Numerous online initiatives coexist and forms of participation have considerably changed in recent years with the advent of social media. The earlier an audience is invited to co-construct the digital environment, the higher the chances of success. To mitigate the risk of low user involvement or early abandonment, the information architecture will be designed based on assessed needs and expectations of the target audiences; the digital interface will be developed in phases – with a consumer review at each phase; a participation strategy will be implemented to meets users’ expectations and needs; and the editorial ambitions of the Encyclopedia will be defined.
OVERALL SUSTAINABILITY
The Encyclopedia is a timely investment, the sustainability of which can be ensured owing to much lower long-term maintenance costs and ongoing co-creation and dissemination partnerships.
At the end of 2020, the major investment for creating the digital tool is anticipated to be under way and a significant first cycle of research completed and ready to be disseminated.
• Costs will decrease at the end of the project cycle, for two main interconnected reasons. The first reflects the nature of the project itself. At the end of 2021, the main concepts of humanitarian action will have been analysed. Thus, even if other concepts can be explored and field research conducted, they will complement a main conceptual frame, based on processes and methodologies already defined and tested. The second reason is inherent to the functional dynamics of the project. As a collaborative project, its sustainability can be ensured through responsibilities shared by the various partners, whether the contributions are cash or in kind.
• A ‘business model’ with ‘add on services’ will be explored to assess the feasibility of generating some income in the long term. Indeed, some additional services could be developed if relevant and could support maintenance costs, supporting the long-term success of the digital product.
• After mid-2022, it is envisaged that the coordination and oversight costs would be covered by integration within CERAH activities and sustained collaborative partnerships, with remaining maintenance costs of the digital tool and quality assurance activities estimated around CHF 100,000 per year.
5 Conclusion Bringing together humanitarian stakeholders and researchers, the Humanitarian Encyclopedia stimulates exchanges, dispels myths, brings further clarity, prompts reflections, allows the sharing of experiences to generate lessons learned across organizations and disciplines, inspires co-creation, and ultimately guides and empowers a broad community of humanitarian stakeholders to be more responsive to the challenges of our century.
It represents an important step in overcoming the current European and North American bias in academic and policy work in the field of humanitarian practice. It’s reach expressly transcends the usual audience of humanitarian discourse, meeting the needs and aspirations of the growing ranks of low- and middle-income actors and the digital generation of humanitarians.
It is only through genuine win-win approaches that a true paradigm shift will be spurred in humanitarian action, called for by humanitarian practitioners and academic scholars alike.
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ANNEX 1: Governance Membership List of Advisory Board members
ACT Alliance, Rudelmar Bueno de la Faria, General Secretary
Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Stéphanie Stern, Knowledge Lab leader
All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), Mihir Bhatt, Director
Amel Association International, Virginie Lefèvre, Partnerships and programme coordinator
Asian Disaster Reduction & Response Network (ADRRN), Manu Gupta (also Director of Seeds India)
CARE International, Gareth Price-Jones, Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor
Groupe URD, François Grunewald, Directeur
Handicap International, Nathalie Herlemont, Director HI Foundation
Humanitarian Leadership Academy, Saba Al Mubaslat, Chief Executive
ICRC, Hugo Slim, Head of Policy
IFRC, David Fischer, Global Coordinator of the Disaster Law Programme,
Islamic Relief Worldwide, Naser HagHamed, Chief Executive Officer
Mercy Malaysia, Ahmad Faizal Mohd Perdaus, President
OCHA, Arindom Mookerjee
OFADEC, Mamadou Ndiaye, Executive Director
Overseas Development Institute ODI/HPG, Veronique Barbelet, Research Fellow
SPHERE, Christine Knudsen, Executive Director
Tufts University Feinstein International Center, Antonio Donini, Visiting Fellow
UNHCR, Robert Smith, Section Chief Division of Resilience and Solutions
UN Women, Joelle Tanguy, Head of Strategic Partnerships
List of Scientific Committee members
Prof Yasmeen Arif, Center for Advanced Study, University of Delhi
Prof Laetitia Atlani-Duault, Research Professor in Social Anthropology and Humanitarian Studies at University Sorbonne Paris Cité - René Descartes - IRD and Director of the Humanitarian Studies Platform at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (Paris), and Visiting Professor at the School of Public Health of Columbia University (New York)
Prof. François Audet, École des sciences de la gestion, Université du Québec à Montréal and Director, Observatoire canadien sur les crises et l'action humanitaire
Prof. Costanza Bonadonna, Département des sciences de la Terre, Université de Genève
Prof Dr Cristina Churruca Muguruza, Universidad de Deusto Human Rights Institute, and Director of NOHA network on humanitarian action, Bilbao
Prof Phil Connors, Deakin University Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, Melbourne
Prof Clara Egger, Centre for International Relations, University of Groningen, Netherlands
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Prof Sadio Gning, University Gaston Berger, Dakar
Prof Oscar Gomez, College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU)
Prof Simon Hug, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Geneva
Prof Benedikt Korf, Department of Geography, University of Zurich (UZH)
Dr Simone Lucatello, Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. José María Luis Mora, Mexico
Prof Alessandro Monsutti, Anthropology and Sociology of Development, Graduate Institute of International Studies (IHEID), Geneva
Prof Mahbuba Nasreen, Director, Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies (IDMVS), University of Dhaka
Dr Alice Obrecht, Research fellow, ALNAP, United Kingdom
Prof Aurélie Picton, Faculty of Translation and Interpretation, University of Geneva
Prof Davide Rodogno, Head of the Graduate Institute of International Studies (IHEID) History Department and Professor at the University of Geneva
Prof Marco Sassoli, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva
Prof Doris Schopper, Medical faculty of the University of Geneva, and Director of the Geneva Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action (CERAH)
Prof Lisa Schwartz, Arnold L Johnson Chair in Health Care Ethics, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada
Dr Julia Steets, Director, Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), Berlin
Prof Andrej Zwitter, Dean University College Fryslân, NGIZ Professor of International Relations / Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, Netherlands
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Endnotes
i Development Initiatives. Global Humanitarian Assistance Report 2018. ii ALNAP (2018) State of the Humanitarian System. London, ALNAP/ODI iii Bené, Wood, Newsham and Davies 2012. iv This observation is based on the analysis of 19 dictionaries and encyclopedias, 28 glossaries and compendia. This analysis is also shared by Olivier Christin, 2010, Dictionnaire des concepts nomades en Sciences Humaines, Metaillé: Paris.
