NORTH-SOUTH CENTRE - ETH - North-South Centre North-South ...

Networking and communication
Doing research for development, the North-South Centre finds itself in a specific
niche of the scientific landscape. Joining forces with partner institutions is thus very
important in order to enhance the validity of our approach and, consequently, to
generate impact. As part of the strategy process, a stakeholder survey shed light on
the perception of the North-South Centre by our peers in Switzerland.
In the course of the strategy development process, an external
consultant conducted a survey in order to learn about
the stakeholder perception of the North-South Centre, as
well as their expectations for the future orientation of the
centre. The interviewed colleagues represent the following
Swiss institutions: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
(SDC), Commission for Research Partnerships
with Developing Countries (KFPE), Swiss National Centre of
Competence in Research North-South (NCCR North-South),
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and Postgraduate
Studies for Developing Countries (NADEL).
In summary, the findings of the survey show that the research
for development (R4D) environment within Switzerland
is fragmented and a closer cooperation and coordination
would strengthen the impact of the different activities.
In general, the creation of the North-South Centre has been
judged to be positive. The centre is well-managed, professionally
presented, and organises interesting conferences
with highly qualified speakers. It is also very well-linked
on an international scale. The stakeholders see the North-
South Centre as “entry-point” to the scientists of the ETH
Zurich dealing with R4D.
However, the North-South Centre does not do full justice to
its name, still focusing too much on agriculture. The stakeholders
miss a clear programmatic direction of the centre
(see p. 8 and p. 33 for our new thematic research areas).
The ETH Zurich should make better use of its potential and
should strengthen its engagement in research and education
on issues of global change. In addition, the interviewees
expressed their reservation about the capacity development
activities of the North-South Centre. They would
like to see capacity building to be more institutional than
individual (see p. 63 for our assessment of this perception).
The findings of the stakeholder survey reveal a considerable
communication need. First, the institutional set-up
is not very well understood in its specificity as competence
centre of the ETH Zurich – a network of scientists each
having his/her specific research needs. Second, the activities
of the North-South Centre and its members are
not known well enough. Consequently, the North-South
Centre needs to explore mechanisms to increase the visibility
of the institution and the multiple research partnerships
with institutions and individuals in the South. It should also
increase the visibility of the broad range of activities and
topics covered by its members. In order to do so, we have
to communicate in a more targeted manner and more
frequently to the broad audience of stakeholders. Furthermore,
as a competence centre which lives off its network
capital, its members need constant incentives and motivation
to remain committed. One means to do so is by providing
platforms for them to communicate their activities.
By developing an additional communication tool in the
form of a public newsletter and restructuring the public
website in the year 2010, we will work toward the achievement
of these goals.
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Networking and communication