political economy

Traffic congestion in Jakarta: a logistical problem or a \’wicked\’ one?

Leave a Comment / systems thinking /

Here is an interesting article published in the Guardian Weekly for bicycle commuters struggling with traffic congestion as I do in Jakarta: Return of the Bicycle Kingdom? How pavement cycling is transforming Taipei. It mentions that  ‘In Taipei authorities have taken the unusual step of legalising cycling on almost 400km of city centre sidewalks …. Taipei is also tripling its […]

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‘Are We Policy Analysts?’. Evidence, Policy Analysis and the Knowledge Sector in Indonesia

Leave a Comment / knowledge to policy /

There are many ways for knowledge and research evidence to reach policy makers and inform policy decisions. One important channel is the analysis by policy analysts in government organizations. In January 2014, the Indonesian Parliament passed a landmark law to modernize the civil service on principles of merit and professionalism (Law No. 5 on Civil

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The elusive search for a knowledge to policy framework

Leave a Comment / systems thinking /

Last week I published a blog on Research2Action where I discuss whether a Knowledge-to-Policy framework to better inform  policies actually exists. \’Knowledge to policy (K2P) is a popular term to describe the way research and other types of knowledge inform policy-making. K2P processes and systems aim to support decision-makers to create good policies that make

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Doing Development Differently in practice from the Philippines

5 Comments / adaptive development /

Jaime Faustino of The Asia Foundation in the Philippines features with two policy local activists in a 10 minutes video documentary produced by ODI\’s Politics and Governance programme. This very well made video documentary describes their development entrepreneurship approach and how they decided to do something about the fact that 12ml Filipino do not have a land title that proves that they own the land where they have built their homes.

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Doing Development Differently, 30 years ago

3 Comments / adaptive development /

I was sixteen when the excerpts I post below were published. For thirty-two years (and probably longer than that)  development practitioners, researchers, academics, experts, technocrats, civil servants, elected officials have tackled the uncertainty of development processes. The answer thirty-two years ago as well as today seems to be the same: embrace uncertainty, make the most out of it.

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Into the future? The rise of President Jokowi and the expectations about reforming the research sector in Indonesia

1 Comment / political economy /

Indonesia\’s 7th President, Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, was inaugurated just two weeks ago. Last weekend he presented his new cabinet, which includes eight women in the post—the highest representation of women in the cabinet so far in Indonesia’s history.  This is a time of fast change. There is a positive mood and many expectations. I watched some of the the images broadcasted

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Indonesia Etc.: complexity and development amongst cultural and temporal diversity

Leave a Comment / political economy /

Is it possible to build a nation as complex as Indonesia before fully understanding its complexity? What is holding Indonesia together despite its diversity? Is decentralization good for Indonesia? These are some of the questions that were asked last week at the Habibie and Ainun Library in South Jakarta during the presentation of the new

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