Training Workshop

Maliau Basin Studies Centre
Sabah, Malaysia
4-8 June 2007

Final Workshop Report now available for download.

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Jointly organised by:

  • IUFRO’s Special Programme for Developing Countries (IUFRO-SPDC)
  • Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI),
  • Malaysian-German Forestry Education Project (MG FEP University Malaysia Sabah and German Agency for Technical Cooperation), and
  • Sabah Foundation (YS)

Trainers and resource persons for the training workshop are kindly provided by the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).


Background and Objectives

The need for sound scientific information in the development of public forest policies at the local, national and international levels has grown significantly in recent years. So too has the need for such information within the private forestry sector and among non-governmental organizations, whose role in the development, sustainable management and conservation of forest resources in all regions of the world is steadily increasing in importance. Despite rapid advances in information technology that has, in theory, the potential to dramatically improve the flow of research findings to policy-makers and forest managers, communication and interaction often is inadequate between the research community and the users of the information they generate. In order to generate value for society, research results must be used by someone – policy- makers, forestry practitioners, landowners, educators and other researchers. The science-policy interface is all about utilising scientific knowledge more effectively. Often research is planned and conducted before giving adequate thought to exactly how the results will be transformed into usable information.

The overall objective of this training workshop is therefore:

•    to provide concepts and methods to researchers on how to plan, conduct, and organise research activities so that results can more quickly and easily be transformed into usable information for problem-solving and policy-making.

Although not all research is focused on policy-relevant questions, best practices in transforming research results into usable information can increase the impact of research on forest policy and improve the practice of forestry, thereby creating more value more quickly for society from forestry research.


Target Audience

The training workshop will bring together early- and mid-career scientists and forest managers/practitioners from Southeast Asian countries who wish to increase the impact of their professional work (i.e. research, advocacy, supervision etc.) on policy making through adequate contribution of research results and scientific knowledge to policy-making processes, addressing broader environmental and socio-economic issues.


Training Workshop Content

The four-day training workshop has been designed to provide latest thinking on concepts and tools for the improvement of the interface of forest science and forest policy. The course will specifically focus on the following issues:

•    Selecting research questions that are relevant to policy issues;

•    Conducting research in a communicative and collaborative manner;

•    Understanding, serving and engaging in policy processes;

•    Creating organisational capacity and culture that enables and encourages work at the science-policy interface; and

•    Demonstrating – with the help of case studies – the interaction between scientists and policy makers.

The training is based on the work of the IUFRO Task Force on Science-Policy Interface and its published guidelines on “Working Effectively at the Interface of Forest Science and Forest Policy


Workshop Organization

Venue:
The workshop will take place at the Maliau Basin Studies Centre in Sabah, Malaysia. The research and visitor facility is located within the Maliau Basin Conservation Area, protecting one of the finest remaining primary tropical forest ecosystems on the island of Borneo. The area is considered as one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots.

Time Schedule:
Training course: 4 to 8 June, 2007
•    Arrival of participants in Sabah and transport to Maliau on 3 June, 2007
•    Training workshop Part I on 4 and 5 June
•    Field trip in the Maliau Basin Conservation Area on 6 June
•    Training workshop Part II on 7 and 8 June
•    Departure from Sabah on 9 June

Those interested in this training workshop are requested to fill in the Application Form and send it to the IUFRO-SPDC office/IUFRO-Headquarters in Vienna, Austria (schimpf(at)iufro.org, or khorchidi(at)iufro.org).