Back | Programme Area: Research-Related Activities
Transformative Social Policy Knowledge and Practice Network
- Project from: 2011 to 2012
Background and Context
UNRISD engagement with civil society in knowledge-sharing activities throughout 2011, along with presentations of UNRISD research on transformative social policy at a number of venues during the year, generated demand from various civil society partners to establish a network for the collection, exchange and dissemination of knowledge and practice on transformative social policy and universalism.
Such a network would aim to strengthen the capacity of civil society stakeholders to engage in national development strategy-making processes. It would also provide a resource for researchers aiming to understand the political processes and power configurations that determine policies and facilitate transformative processes on the ground.
It could do so through:
- facilitating the networking of civil society in the global South;
- exchanging knowledge and practice to strengthen policy stakeholders’ participatory capacity;
- sharing research and knowledge on the transformative role of social policy and universal provision; and
- developing learning materials to build the capacity of Southern actors to engage with and influence policy-making processes at local, national, regional and global levels.
A Pilot Initiative
A pilot project was carried out in 2011-2012. This brought together selected civil society participants and UNRISD to:
- explore grassroots demands for networking and knowledge exchange around universal social policies;
- identify potential local partners and the feasibility of a South-South knowledge and practice network;
- identify existing learning materials for capacity building;
- assess the comprehensiveness, accessibility and relevance of learning materials that focus on the transformative role of social policy and universal provision; and
- develop and test a prototype e-learning platform.
Kyunghee University provided the technical assistance for the development of a prototype e-learning platform.