Research in Action Promoting Role of Research-Practice Partnerships in Advancing Sustainable Urbanization
November 8, 2024 | 13:00 - 14:30
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Summary
Integrating Academic Research and Practice to Achieve the SDGs: The Power of Research-Practice Partnerships
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present a complex challenge, requiring innovative solutions and collaboration across sectors. While the necessary resources and knowledge exist, the key lies in effectively engaging and combining them in transformative ways. This is particularly relevant in the context of urbanization, where challenges like housing crises, climate change, and inequality demand integrated approaches.
Academic research plays a crucial role in informing sustainable urban development and advancing progress towards the SDGs. By bridging the gap between theory and practice, we can improve the quality of life for citizens and address pressing socioeconomic, environmental, and governance challenges. Interdisciplinary collaboration is vital in this process, fostering dialogue and generating applicable knowledge for sustainable urban practices.
Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) offer a promising framework for achieving these goals. RPPs bring together researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers as equal partners, fostering urban innovation and strengthening institutional capacities. This collaborative approach allows for the testing, verification, and scaling up of effective solutions to advance local and national sustainable urbanization goals.
Recognizing the potential of RPPs, the Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research aims to catalyze their promotion by engaging a diverse group of stakeholders, including philanthropists and the private sector. This collaborative effort will explore various partnership modalities between academia and practice, with the ultimate goal of advancing the SDGs, overcoming urbanization challenges, and increasing institutional capacities across sectors. By fostering cross-learning and building common capacity, we can ensure the effective verification and scaling up of innovative mechanisms to address the ever-evolving urban landscape.
Objectives
1. Activate networking of partners and attendees and establish an active platform and network to share ideas and practices on RPPs in the field of urban innovation.
2. Promote Research-Practice Partnerships in Egypt and similar contexts globally to realize the pivotal role of the dialogue between academia and practice to advance local and national sustainable urbanization goals.
3. Promote cross-learning and systemized capacity building techniques, across the public, private and practice sectors to strengthen mutual verification methods and scale up mechanisms of innovative co-produced innovative solutions.
4. Exploration of the different frameworks of RPPs, their key challenges and their tackling mechanisms.
5. Exploration of financing frameworks of RPPs with the involvement of the private sector and resource mobilization.