Research partnerships offer an opportunity to generate broader research impact but face the potential pitfall of exacerbating existing inequalities within the academic systems. We have gathered a list of key resources, reflections, and new tools to enable you to build and foster more fruitful research partnerships, whether they are with international research collaborators, NGOs, or governments.
- The UKCDS published a report about ‘Building a Partnership of Equals’ which covers models of research collaboration, practices to improve fairness that funders have implemented, and the associated challenges and learning from international research partnerships.
- The Research for Development Network has published ‘How to Partner for Development Research’ which includes guidance documents, cases studies, and a learning and development note.
- Christian Aid and the Open University co-wrote an online resource ‘Rethinking Research Partnerships: Discussion guide and toolkit’, to enable researchers to critically engage with the concept of partnerships and the associated power dynamics.
- The OECD’s Global Science Forum produced a report on the ‘Opportunities, Challenges and Good Practices in International Research Cooperation between Developed and Developing Countries’ in 2011. .
- The Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) research programme has developed a set of resources around ‘Interdisciplinary Working’ and written a policy brief about ‘Research for Development Impact: The role of equitable partnerships’ as part of its legacy documents.
- The Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) research programme shared its experiences of researcher–practitioner partnership during a guest webinar.
- Duncan Green of Oxfam argued that ‘academics and NGOs can work together in partnership but must do so earlier and with genuine knowledge exchange’
- INTRAC wrote a working paper in 2012 titled ‘Academic–NGO Collaboration in International Development Research: A reflection on the issues’.
- AuthorAid has launched a new ‘Research Collaboration Space’ for researchers, policymakers and practitioners interested in collaborating on work around the SDGs.
- The Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research with funding from the IDRC produced a ‘Partnership Assessment Tool’ to ensure that equity is the underlying principle upon which to base partnership negotiations.
For further information see the Research to Action website.