Policymakers in Africa will soon have a new framework to guide them in formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating policy interventions.
The framework is expected to foster environmental sustainability, achieve more equitable income distribution and meet other social challenges, particularly for women and youth.
In developing the framework, ACTS is working closely with Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC) coordinated by the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex under the umbrella of the Transforming Climate Innovation Ecosystems through Inclusive Transdisciplinarity (TransCIIT) project.
The project is implemented by the University of Sussex, Kenya Climate Innovation Center, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology and the University of Johannesburg.
The new framework is predicated on the assumption that social transformation hinges heavily on enactment, effective implementation and monitoring of STI policies. However, having effective STI policies is not enough; they must be managed effectively to catalyse the change process. And for this to happen, policymakers must not only have the right frameworks but also the capacity to manage the same. Therefore, the capacity of policymakers in managing STI policies must also must also be enhanced to effectively guide the process of transformation under the new framework.
And whereas policies often do not initiate transformative change, they can make a crucial contribution by steering socio-technical change processes towards transformative goals. Thus, as the new policy framework is being developed, efforts are also underway to develop the capacity of policy- makers in the continent to manage the same.
Apart from developing the new framework and building the capacity of policymakers, the TransCIIT project, which is an offshoot of the Innovation for African Universities (IAU) programme, is also seeking to find ways on how to establish strong relations between the full range of actors in Kenya’s climate innovation ecosystem (CIE), particularly active participation of young people and women (inclusivity), and productive interactions between academic, practitioner, policymaker and citizen perspectives.
This will be done by creating synergies among actors in various sectors and locations engaged in technological and non-technological climate innovation. Specifically, the project focuses on the role universities can play in this effort to maximise the benefits for women and youth. This will contribute to the evidence base of the IAU community of practice and will be an example of how multiple stakeholders - including universities outside Kenya - can co-create solutions.
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