How to go about the design of a project that focuses on the ways different forms of evidence and knowledge are used to inform policy decisions? How to identify entry points, opportunities, and the problems that policymaking organisations want to solve rather than starting from pre-determined solutions? How to design the research and analysis to […]
Twenty years have passed since June 1999 when the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1244, which placed Kosovo under a United Nations transitional administration. Events have unfolded very rapidly since then. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, and so far 101 United Nations states have recognised its independence. The European Union has
The history of universities and higher education in Somalia is marked by the civil war that began in 1991 and which lasted for more than 10 years and which brought the higher education to a halt. How is the university landscape recovering and developing? What has been the role of the private sector in the
The recovery and development of universities in Somalia Read More »
In September 2015, Nepal promulgated a new Constitution which mandates the transition of Nepal from a centralized unitary state to a federal country with the goal to bringing democracy to the doorstep of the citizens and assign more power and responsibility to local governments. Four years on, how is Nepal doing? How is the reform
Nepal on its way to federalism. A conversation with Shailendra Sigdel Read More »
During a seminar organised by the EduKnow research group at the University of Tampere on comparative education, I came across the interesting concept of reference society. In a nutshell, countries which, like Finland, find themselves at the top of the PISA ranking may become models or references for countries looking for ways to improve their education policies
I was recently in Florence to meet the team at the UNICEF’s Office of Research-Innocenti and present & discuss some of the experiences of the Knowledge Sector Initiative in Indonesia. I was part of the implementing team during phase 1 from 2013-2017 leading the research and learning work of the programme. The Knowledge Sector Initiative is
The Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Belgrade has a long history. It was established in 1838 and today it is located in a modern building in downtown Belgrade. I went there to meet Dragan Stanojević, Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology. I wanted to meet him because he led the initiative that resulted
Growing up in Italy during the 1970s and 1980s, I remember Albania being geographically very close, just 150 kilometres across the sea from the harbour city of Brindisi. At the same time, closed and isolated by its communist regime, it seemed very far away. Many fleeing Albanians used small boats for the dangerous crossing to