This building block is still ongoing. There are two complementary directions: (1) to the SRI policy, and (2) to the regional and local stakeholders. Regarding the SRI policy direction, the project outcome is now integrated into a pool of input to design the SRI plan as it was presented to the TSRI team, and the documents were submitted. The main challenge is to what extent our findings are utilized in the national SRI policy. Regarding the regional and local stakeholder direction, our team (SDG Move and the regional teams) is exploring the possibility of establishing a regional network for SDGs, based on the participants and the outcome of the regional foresight workshops. The regional teams are encouraged to use the regional outcomes of the project to engage with local policymakers and stakeholders to form a network to address the regional priorities on the ground.
Designing the project with the knowledge user, in this case, the TSRI is crucial for moving to the next stage. When the project was designed together, the project outcomes are usable and used by the policymakers.
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The fact that the SDGs is a global agenda to which the government officially commits and is an obligation for both national and regional government agencies to address, making it easier for our regional teams to push forward the regional and local stakeholder direction.
A reason that TSRI is interested in integrating localized SDGs issues into the SRI plan was because of their awareness of the SDGs’ importance and of the localized policies. However, not all government agencies are aware of these issues. Regular knowledge communication and engagement with the policymakers and government agencies would help them realize the importance of the SDGs. Creating a platform in which the policymakers and government agencies interact regularly with local stakeholders and their practices would also increase awareness.
Academia is in a great position to bridge the government agencies and CSOs using evidence-based and participatory approaches. The approach would provide some credibility and legitimacy to academia as a bridging sector.
A political process to negotiate what works for whom and to find a solution that all parties get some of their priorities is expected. This process even presented itself in our project. Each regional team also has their own local agenda. We need to find a way to balance the project objectives and their agenda so that everyone wins.