Risk dumping in field research: some researchers are safer than others

By Linda Johnson and Rodrigo Mena | EADI/ISS Blog Series

A quick glance at who is out collecting data in ‘the field’, including in remote and sometimes hazardous environments, is enough to make our point clear: the main executors of in-situ research (also known as fieldwork research) are local researchers and research assistants, sometimes together with junior or PhD researchers from research institutions in the Global North. These groups are being systematically and disproportionately exposed to safety and security issues linked to field research. Continue reading “Risk dumping in field research: some researchers are safer than others”

Changing research practices in times of Covid – Insights from an international fishbowl

By Basile Boulay | EADI/ISS Blog Series

The closing plenary of the 2021 EADI ISS conference opened the floor to all participants, encouraging them to reflect on their changing research practices in times of Covid through a virtual fishbowl format. How has the pandemic changed our research practice? How do losses and gains balance out? What are the specific challenges faced by researchers in the Global South? Here is what our participants thought: Continue reading “Changing research practices in times of Covid – Insights from an international fishbowl”

How online conferences can contribute to social justice: lessons from organizing the EADI ISS Conference 2021

By Kees Biekart, Basile Boulay, Susanne von Itter and Sushrutha Vemuri | EADI/ISS Blog Series

How can a conference contribute to solidarity, peace and social justice? Well, maybe by organizing it fully online. We never expected this to work so amazingly.

Let us be honest to you from the beginning: we have never organized an online conference before. We feel like we are inventing the wheel in many ways, because many things are absolutely new to us. We’ve never had to do this. But now that we have organized the EADI-ISS Conference 2021 #Solidarity2021, which is to start in just a few days, we know one thing for sure: we will never organize a conference again without providing substantial online participation facilities. Continue reading “How online conferences can contribute to social justice: lessons from organizing the EADI ISS Conference 2021”

Researchers must improve the working conditions for local collaborators

By Ananya Chakraborty and Lennart Kaplan

There has been a spurt in research to design appropriate policy solutions for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Global South. Ironically, such research projects often build upon existing power hierarchies, which may result in unsafe and dangerous working conditions and undermine the Sustainable Development Goal for decent work (SDG 8). Continue reading “Researchers must improve the working conditions for local collaborators”

From Science to Practice: Strengthening Research Uptake to Achieve the SDGs

By Maggie Carter

Humanity is currently facing a threat against which scientific knowledge is our most powerful weapon. Researchers are racing to learn more about the invisible enemy that is Covid-19. However, at the same time, we face another threat, one that has been rearing its head in recent years, but is becoming all the more visible in this unprecedented moment: a growing skepticism of and even hostility towards science. While this is hindering global efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19, it also has implications that go far beyond the current crisis. Continue reading “From Science to Practice: Strengthening Research Uptake to Achieve the SDGs”