Research Capacity Building (RCB) Program

All ATPS thematic research programs focus on facilitating innovation capacity development at individual and institutional levels. Each research program is therefore expected to include the "make" or "design" perspective, i.e. translation of the research outputs into "institutional" and/or "social engineering" designs, and/or cost effective "technical designs/technologies" that are necessary to the specific development and/or policy gaps addressed. To enhance the process, each research team is expected to include (or proactively engage) trans-disciplinary science experts; relevant policymakers and practitioners at all stages of the project cycle: from conception to implementation and dissemination of results.

The selected priority sectors for thematic research and research capacity building during the ATPS Phase VI Strategic Plan, 2008 – 2012 include: sustainable agriculture and food security, sustainable health delivery, and sustainable management of environmental infrastructure including integrated management of water, biodiversity and rural livelihoods. In each of the priority sectors, the research programs would focus on building national innovation systems capacities for poverty alleviation, climate change adaptation, and knowledge management and appropriation strategies. Other strategic priorities of the ATPS listed in Figure 1 above, forms integral parts of all thematic research capacity building programs.

• Pro-poor, low carbon development: Improving low carbon energy access and development benefits in Least Developed Countries (LDC)
• Collaborative project on Transdisciplinary Training for Resource Efficiency and Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (TRECCAfrica) proposal for the Intra-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme
• Collaborative Project on Bio-resources Innovation Policy Consortium for Eastern Africa (BIPCEA)
• Collaborative project on Building Trans-disciplinary Climate Change Adaptation Capacity at the University of Nigeria
• Biodiversity, Ecosystem services, Social sustainability and Tipping Points in African drylands (BEST)
• Efforts to advance the understanding of social innovation among policymakers, science experts, the private sector and civil society in Africa
• Climate Sense Program, (CSP)
• Science, Ethics and Technological Responsibility for Developing and Emerging Countries(SET-DEV)
• Strengthening National IP Policy and Legal Framework in Eastern and Southern Africa: Traditional Knowledge(TK) Access and Benefit Sharing (ABF) and Effective IP systems
• Nanotechnologies for Development in India, Kenya and the Netherlands: Towards a Framework for Democratic Governance of Risks in Developing Countries
• Strengthening Health Technology Policy in Africa (HTP)
• Water and Environmental Sustainability Program (WESP)
• Intergrated Trans Boundary River Management Policy Development in Semi Arid River Basins(INTREPID)
• Strengthening National ICT Policy in Africa: Governance, Equity and Institutional Issues Program
• WWF/ATPS/ACTS Collaborative project on climate change adaptation in East Africa
• Innovative Strategies to Enhance Capacity to apply Research Evidence in Policy Making