Call for Expressions of Interest to host Research-Policy-Communities on Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around– The Case of Nairobi, Kenya

Call for Expressions of Interest to host Utafiti Sera – (Research Policy Community) on Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around – The Case of Nairobi, Kenya

About PASGR

The Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) is an independent, non-partisan pan-African not-for-profit organisation established in 2011 and located in Nairobi, Kenya. PASGR’s vision is a ‘vibrant African social science community addressing the continent’s public policy issues’. PASGR seeks excellence in social science research for public policy. In partnership with individual academics and researchers, higher education institutions, research think tanks, civil society organisations, business and policy communities both in the region and internationally, PASGR supports the production and dissemination of policy relevant research; designs and delivers suites of short professional development courses for researchers and policy actors; and facilitates the development of collaborative higher education programmes.

Background

PASGR with financial support from Department of International Development (DFID) is about completing a second phase of the research project on Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around in Nairobi, Kigali and Addis Ababa. Recognising the existence of many similar studies conducted on Urban Governance in these cities; the frustration researchers encounter in getting policy actors to take forward research findings; as well as the understanding that policy actors also feel they could do better if they have new knowledge based on research findings, PASGR developed the novel approach to bridge the gap between research and public policy through the use of research-policy communities – Utafiti Sera (Research-Policy Community).

Establishing a research-policy community of practice (Utafiti Sera) as the evidence increasingly shows, is an important avenue to inform government policies and practices. It is on this basis that PASGR with financial support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is facilitating the development and implementation of research-policy community (Utafiti Sera) on Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around in Nairobi and Kigali. As a facilitator of research-policy communities across Africa, PASGR is seeking a partner to host the Kenya Utafiti Sera in Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around in Nairobi.

About Utafiti Sera

Utafiti Sera, a work in progress, supports, contributes to building and enhances a community of researchers and policy actors working together to ensure that appropriate and negotiated policy actions and uptake occur either through programmes, legislations, policies or administrative and other forms of civic actions around issues for which research has provided evidence or for which a synthesis of available evidence has been made. Utafiti Sera is a combination of many things that ensure and enhance policy outcomes. It is a ‘process’, place’, ‘forum’, ‘platform’, or a ‘vehicle’ for transforming research evidence – based knowledge for policy uptake. As a ‘process’ Utafiti Sera involves sequences of activities that enable the building of a community of interests and practice from where existing and new ideas and evidence flow from members of the community resulting in collective action and interventions to improve policy design and implementation.

As a ‘place’, Utafiti Sera provides a space for key stakeholders with interest, power, capacity and motivation to act in diverse ways to ensure that research evidence becomes available and is used to make informed policy decisions and practices. As a ‘forum’, it provides a non-partisan platform for knowledge engagement, ‘outreach’ and ‘in-reach’ by different members of the community irrespective of theoretical and ideological differences, in order to build bridges and work together to establish common ground for the pursuit of agreed upon goals. And as a ‘vehicle’, Utafiti Sera constitutes motor and pathways, transmission belts or/and channels for shared knowledge (common areas on which there are agreements and consensus), and experiences to enhance policy uptake. In short, Utafiti Sera is a phenomenon whose form is determined by the specific conjuncture or/and context in which it is expressed or put in place. It has no permanent form except that of community formation or action of a collective of researchers and policy actors in the pursuit of policy uptake.

Utafiti Sera at national, local and regional levels is an innovative mechanism to inform and positively advocate, proffer and contribute to appropriate and relevant policies and programmes that address inclusive development and the wellbeing of citizens through research evidence for policy. Given that policy formation is always and often a dynamic work in progress, there are other possible routes. Where circumstances permit such as the presence of most of the actors and conditions, Utafiti Sera may take what can be termed a shorter route towards ensuring policy uptake. In contexts that require more preliminary work of bringing the different players and actors together, facilitating contacts, networks and identifying interests; it is more of what can be termed a longer route of communication, building bridges, working out advocacy plans, facilitating ownership, and identifying and mobilising collective and individual champions. This involves a more detailed set of incremental activities. For more details on Utafiti Sera please see link: http://www.pasgr.org/utafiti-sera/.

Activities the Host Organisation will Deliver

The host organisation, in close collaboration with PASGR, will undertake a series of activities to inform and influence policies and programmes on urban governance in Kenya. Apart from activities stated below, the host organisation will demonstrate, encourage and facilitate the ownership of the community of practice along with other Kenyan institutions and individuals active in the field. The activities envisaged to be implemented in the 2017 – 2018 period includes:

• Mapping of Stakeholders on Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around in Nairobi.


• Synthesis of Existing Studies on Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around in Nairobi.


• Organising forums on Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around in Nairobi based on research evidence;


• Facilitating and enabling an active community of practice around Nairobi’s urban governance issues;


• Identifying and involving potential champions of urban governance issues as part of the Utafiti Sera;


• Communication, reporting and media engagement of research evidence materials developed.

Eligibility Criteria:

1. Research institutions, civil society organisations and NGOs domiciled in the Nairobi, Kenya. This may include institutions and organisations which finance or conduct research, or synthesise research and ensure policy uptake and use of research based knowledge to promote public policy or/ and advocate for public policy e.g. research institutes, think tanks, civil society advocacy organisations with county-wide and /or national reach, research councils and research consortia. The applicant must be registered as a legal person. Commercial actors and individuals cannot apply.


2. The applicant will have experience in developing technical research products such as literature synthesis, stakeholder mapping, policy briefs, info-graphics, video documentaries, and also write reports. PASGR does not encourage ‘copy and paste’ – we are deliberate about simple but potent language to fit donor requirements and the policy audience.


3. The applicants must be able to document the competence and capacity to implement agreements. This includes research competence, administrative competence and financial management.


4. The applicant must have experience in convening a broad array of stakeholders including government agencies and ministries, civil society, academia, development partners, private sector, and other stakeholders relevant to the thematic area.


5. The applicant must be conversant with developing content to engage the media, including the newspaper, radio, television as well as social media (blogs).