Dialogue Sessions

Through these sessions, we aimed to challenge participants to interrogate the way knowledge partnerships are organized and framed. We aspired to contribute to the generation of new ideas and successful innovation and to forge promising and equal partnerships to enable progress toward sustainable, inclusive societies.

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Dialogue Session 1

Homegrown knowledge

Facilitator: Dr. Tania Haddad, Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the American University of Beirut

In this session, we discussed the importance of homegrown research and its contribution to the advancement of knowledge. It reviewed how local communities build synergies between their knowledge systems and that of science to create inclusive and fair knowledge partnerships. It further discussed the ways homegrown research networks strengthen the role of scientific knowledge in policymaking.

Dialogue Session 2

Existing processes to decolonize knowledge

Facilitator: Dr. Vivienne Badaan, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the American University of Beirut

In this session, we discussed existing processes to decolonize knowledge, based on indigenous methods of knowledge generation, preservation, and dissemination, such as oral history practices. The discussion highlighted the importance of various qualitative research methodologies that are a stepping stone toward generating and preserving Indigenous knowledge.  

Dialogue Session 3

Accessibility and usability of knowledge within contexts of instability and conflict

Facilitator: Ziad Abdel Samad, Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)

Knowledge is an important tool for economic and social development. However, the divide between knowledge-producing countries and countries failing in developing a vast stock of knowledge for various reasons remains one of the main challenges. This session will focus on the importance of investing in human capital, institutional framework, technology, innovation and competitiveness to secure homegrown research networks and bridge the gap between knowledge and policymaking for an adequate development agenda.

Dialogue Session 4

Local knowledge for global impact

Host organization: Nuffic

Facilitator: Gemma Bennink, Senior Programme Manager at Nuffic

In this session, Nuffic provided a space for peers in Beirut and Amsterdam to engage with one another to learn, understand and define the power of local knowledge to strengthen equal partnership (in the field of knowledge cooperation), and to understand how local knowledge contributes to global development.