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Alterna(ves to Slash and Burn Programme: what have we learned,
where to next?
Anne-‐Marie Izac 2nd Chair, GSG of ASB
(Consor(um Chief Officer, Chief Science Officer, Senior Science Advisor)
Outline
1. Looking back to the beginning: ini(al ASB objec(ves and 5 lessons
2. Looking ahead: ASB and future lessons for the evolving set of CRPs
1. Ini(al ASB objec(ve: 1st lesson
• Reduce deforesta(on by S/B agriculture. By providing ecologically and economically sustainable op(ons for farmers + scien(fic evidence to policy-‐makers
• ToC: providing new scien(fic evidence & improved prac(ces would trigger â in deforesta(on
• 1st lesson: ToC: far too simplis2c/naive about how science can influence rest of world
1. What ASB did differently on partnerships and research approaches
• For 1st (me in CGIAR: teams of biophysical x social scien(sts, from ≠ ins(tu(ons, within-‐ outside CGIAR, na(onal, interna(onal, some stakeholders
• Interdisciplinary, mul( ins(tu(onal teams
• Spent 2-‐3 years on team building + ‘characterisa(on’, priority-‐se^ng across research sites
• Worked at different spa(al scales
1. Second and third lessons
• 2nd lesson: interdisciplinary & mul2ins2tu2onal approaches thus developed (e.g., ASB matrix) produced relevant, useful results that uni disciplinary and uni ins2tu2onal approaches could not have produced
• 3rd lesson: governance and mgt structure needs to be aligned with science implemented (inclusive, transparent, accountable)
• both lessons used in criteria, principles for current CRPs: new, wider partnerships required, CRP governance to be inclusive
• Interdisciplinary work s(ll difficult in CRPs, par(cularly biophysical x social scien(sts; governance s(ll an issue in various CRPs
1. 4th lesson
• Lesson 4: to generate new knowledge, IPGs, essen2al: baseline/benchmark in mul2ple sites; understanding of processes at play in ≠ environments, at ≠ spa2al-‐temporal scales before can scale up
• Today, CRPs struggling with ’baseline analysis’, work at mul(ple scales, credible scaling up. Realising only now importance of this for RBM.
1. 5th lesson
• Ini(al ToC too simplis(c, subsequently disproved by empirical evidence. Today’s ToC less naive about influence of science.
• 5th lesson: flexibility, willingness to learn from mistakes, asking existen2al ques2ons, re-‐inven2ng program: essen2al to evolve realis2c ToC over2me
1. To summarise, External Review of ASB, 2005
… ‘ASB has created the world’s pre-‐eminent system for use-‐driven, compara2ve scien2fic inves2ga2on of human-‐environment interac2ons at the forest margin across the pan tropic domain…. ASB has developed an effec2ve and efficient governing structure that successfully integrates capabili2es and concerns across CGIAR Centers, tropical regions, scales and disciplines’.
2. Looking ahead
• ASB should keep breaking new ground for CGIAR. Show how transdisciplinary approaches accelerate discovery and innova(on and the applica(on of innova(ons for complex problems
• Contribute new perspec(ve to debates on reproducibility of: – Achievements (innova(ons) in a specific geographical loca(on to other places
– Successes in influencing policy-‐making
2. Looking ahead: main challenge
• Providing more secure, diversified & healthy food grown in more and more difficult condi2ons, whilst decreasing the environmental footprint of agriculture and decreasing inequali2es
• Complex, interconnec(ons, uncertain(es, beyond any discipline’s reach. Requires ‘transforma(ve’ integra(on of many sciences (life, natural, social, human health, mathema(cal) and perspec(ve of stakeholders
• Inter/mul(disciplinary approaches insufficient to promote collabora(on and synthesis needed to produce truly innova(ve solu(ons to large–scale, complex problems.
2. Transdisciplinary approaches
• Change in scien2fic culture: reality is mul2dimensional, so is knowledge.
• New ways of thinking, new tools & approaches by working together across disciplines &with stakeholders. Builds upon but transcends reduc2onism, linear logic.
• Systema2c approach, based on overall coherence rather than unity
• Crea2ve “convergence–divergence” process that brings areas of knowledge together into a new system to spin off applica2ons and elements that can in turn be recombined and integrated
• Results in new social distribu2on of knowledge
• ASB has more experience than most in working toward this, including in having governance & mgt structure aligned, facilita2ng open scien2fic culture
In conclusion
• ASB’s experience: 5 lessons relevant for all CRPs today. On essen(ality of partnerships; alignment of governance & mgt with research needs; importance of working at ≠ scales, in ≠ countries and of learning from mistakes, re-‐crea(ng
• Compara(ve advantage of CGIAR today: capacity to work globally from many sites, across ins(tu(ons & disciplines to more rapidly design robust op(ons. ASB has significantly contributed
• Given complexity of challenges ahead, more transforma(ve changes are now needed, more urgently. ASB is more nimble than CRPs; can con(nue to break new ground for CGIAR
In conclusion, for a new science
• Complex challenges ahead require more integra(ve and collabora(ve approaches:
– Using transdisciplinary approaches that transcend disciplinary boundaries , involving stakeholders
– To design truly innova(ve approaches, bejer tuned to complexity, uncertainty, constant change
• Huge, exci(ng challenge for ASB scien(sts: new type of science needed, new way of conceiving role of research in society
• Recent recogni2on of this need (e.g., US Academy of Sciences, Special Rapporteur to the UN on the right to food) and of transforma(ve improvements resul(ng from such approaches (medicine, engineering)