Planning together and sharing data to maximize research

The family of organisations that are part of BRACED has grown substantially as the programme gains momentum.  A large number of these organisations are now engaging in tasks that will produce insights into the nature of building resilience and reducing vulnerability in some of the world’s most marginalised contexts.

 Yet, key questions remain.  How will these different organisations speak to each other and share the knowledge being generated? What will be the platforms of collaboration to generate robust learning on the factors that enable and constrain resilience? What will be the key sources of data that will support research and learning within BRACED?

 Answers to some of these questions have started to emerge from a lively online discussion hosted by the BRACED Knowledge Manager on the 26^th of May 2015.

From this discussion, it emerged that organisations that are part of BRACED and are delivering projects on the ground are involved in generating a rich variety of insights for two primary reasons.

First, organisations want to repeatedly ‘inform’ the operation of their projects with new learning on how to do things better.  The second objective of research is to share rich insights and new knowledge on building resilience with the global community of practice engaged in examining similar questions.

The nature of topics that form the basis of research includes a vast diversity of issues such as the links between gender empowerment and resilience, understanding the manner in which communities can ‘transform’ their ability to deal with shocks and stresses, the costs and benefits of resilience building and the role of local financial mechanisms in supporting adaptation – to name only a few. 

Apart from the research programmes of BRACED grantees, the Knowledge Manager for BRACED also has an extensive and rigorous programme of research. This aims to improve the use of existing evidence in resilience programming; to improve design and implementation of projects through analysis of proposals, logframes and theories of change; develop deeper understanding of system-wide resilience processes; and understand the dynamics of building resilience in fragile and conflict affected contexts.

It was clear from our online discussion that the constellation of actors involved in BRACED will deliver potentially cutting edge knowledge and learning on various aspects of building resilience.

After this examination of the objectives and nature of research, the discussion moved onto the mechanisms through which individuals and organisations would collaborate to share learning and build on these insights. 

It was felt that initially that online discussions (such as the one taking place) and webinars would be a valuable vehicle through which to communicate emerging insights on specific topics and act as springboards for deeper collaboration.  Apart from this virtual space, the learning team for BRACED will also organise meetings between various members of the BRACED family.  These will include regular workshops to collaboratively develop knowledge products, and an annual learning event that will be instrumental in cementing partnerships for knowledge and learning.

Following this, the discussion moved onto reflections from participants on the sources of data that will drive knowledge, research and learning within BRACED.  Very broadly, it emerged that there are three main avenues through which insights on various resilience related topics will be generated.

First, BRACED grantees and the Knowledge Manager will undertake customised data gathering exercises to meet the needs of specific research projects. Second, routine results reporting and monitoring data being collected by the grantees to meet their fiduciary responsibility will be creatively deployed to generate new insights. Third, evaluation and learning exercises led by the grantees and Knowledge Manager will generate deep contextual learning on a range of key issues. 

At the end of this lively discussion it was clear that the different streams of knowledge on a range of key resilience related topics will combine through the use of virtual and physical platforms for collaboration. This in turn, is sure to tangibly move the state of knowledge on building resilience and adaptation to climate extremes and disasters forward.