LINKING THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS

Research can offer important insights to a diverse range of stakeholders as well as increase the SCP knowledge base to enable strategic priority setting. For envisaged changes to become reality, research needs to be complemented by concrete and practical activities. Given their capacity for bringing together diverse groups of actors within transformational change initiatives, civil society organisations (CSOs) are uniquely positioned to play a leading role in advancing SCP through strategic and action oriented initiatives.

 

The Action Town – Research and Action for SCP project builds bridges between the research and CSO communities. By enhancing linkages between these key groups, CSOs can become more effective when promoting SCP issues while at the same time advance possibilities to shape the sustainability research agenda.

 

Learning from each other

The transfer of knowledge between CSOs and researchers active in the SCP field offers many benefits. Smaller CSOs that do not conduct their own research will benefit substantially from direct and institutionalised exchanges with the research community. The research community can also benefit through engaging with CSOs by gaining a better understanding of the needs and perceptions of key stakeholders. These mutual benefits were clearly demonstrated during a support workshop attending by representatives of both groups.  

 

Supporting CSOs – in theory and in practice

In their work promoting SCP, CSOs make use of many different tools to achieve different objectives. Objectives can be to shape and influence government policy, to assess the impacts of consumption and production or to measure and evaluate SCP performance of companies or other organisations. The challenge for the research community is to make the available tools accessible and understandable to CSO groups and to suggest means to more effectively apply the tools. Practical examples and proposals to accomplish these aims are outlined in three Action Town guidelines on SCP policy instruments, assessment tools and indicators.

 

Cooperation between the research and CSO communities cannot be based on written material alone. Face-to-face exchanges of knowledge and partnerships on the ground are required to fully realise the potential mutual long-term benefits. The practicalities of establishing lasting collaborative partnerships will be explored and demonstrated with four new CSO partners – ECODES, Green Liberty, MAMA-86 and TTGV – during exploratory SCP action programs within the Action Town project.

 

Enhanced knowledge and capacity

An Action Town survey of CSO strategies offers opportunity for CSOs to become more effective in promoting SCP by sharing information on leading strategic approaches within the CSO community. To date the Action Town partners have strategized potential mechanisms to enhance knowledge and capacity together with a select group of leading CSO thinkers. A roadmap document to enhance the role of CSOs in promoting SCP and influencing the research agenda is planned in cooperation with other European actors.

 

Background

The Action Town project (official project name: CSOContribution2SCP) is funded by the European Commission 7^th Research Framework Programme. Project partners include

• Northern Alliance for Sustainability (ANPED),
• Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI),
• Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI) and
• WWF-UK

 

For CSOs the Action Town project will enable an enhanced capacity to apply SCP research outcomes. For researchers the project will improve opportunities to understand the research needs of organised civil society in view of their policy and advocacy goals.