NN40, May 2008
Education for Sustainable Development? Or The Sustainability of Education Investment? A Special Issue
A New Tool to Disseminate the Work of NORRAG: Policy Briefs in Six Languages
By Stéphanie Langstaff, NORRAG, and Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Email: stephanie.langstaff@norrag.orgDuring the last strategy group planning meetings of NORRAG (2006 and 2007 in particular), there has been an increasing concern for the dissemination of the research findings of NORRAG NEWS, its utilization in ?the South? and its impact on policy makers. It is in accordance with the tendency to go beyond knowledge production and strengthen the links between research, policy and practice, but it is also the result of two observations on the limits of NORRAG:
? Despite the impressive rise in the number of members and the relevance of NORRAG NEWS for a critical look at current trends in the field of cooperation policies, there is no evidence on its utilisation by readers. It was even pointed out that NORRAG NEWS is rarely quoted in the publications of cooperation agencies or researchers. One possible explanation is that policy makers and practitioners do not have time to read the 80 pages of each issue of NORRAG NEWS. Thus, a digest of research findings (as other organizations already do) might be an additional and efficient to reach them and would perhaps encourage them to browse an entire issue of NORRAG NEWS for more information.
? Most readers of NORRAG NEWS are found in English-speaking countries. Next, come the French-speakers (approximately one sixth of registered members of NORRAG) and most of them are located in Europe. In some parts of the world, like Western Africa, South America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, NORRAG members remain scarce. Although there are probably several contributing factors, the language issue seems to be the main barrier for the dissemination of NORRAG NEWS in these regions. A related issue is the content of the publication, which does not address these regions sufficiently. In a nutshell, it appears that the issues of language and relevance apply to NORRAG in the same way that they do for education and training policies.
Drawing on the first observation, the NORRAG strategy group decided to elaborate a policy brief for each issue of NORRAG NEWS (starting with n°37). The policy brief, prepared originally in English by the editor, is conceived as a synthesis for readers to capture the main points of convergence and divergence emerging from the topic dealt with. It offers a glimpse into the rich and diverse content of NORRAG NEWS and it is a useful tool to disseminate better the work of NORRAG. To tackle the under representation of the network in some regions, policy briefs are now being translated into French, Spanish, German, Arabic and Chinese. Adding a translation into Russian in the near future has also been suggested.
To download the policy briefs, it is necessary to be registered in NORRAG and to log in (with your email address) before going through the whole list of NORRAG NEWS. At present, the policy briefs are unfortunately not accessible without log in.
In addition to the efforts made by the secretariat to publicize the work of NORRAG through national cluster meetings, emailing and the sending of printed copies of NORRAG NEWS in under represented regions, it is hoped that the availability of policy briefs in different languages will facilitate access to research findings for policy debate. However, the content issue still needs to be addressed, with a better coverage of the experience of different countries and regions.
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