Debating Development Research

19/05/2026

Building a National Platform for Development and Sustainability – The Czech Experience

By Ondřej Horký-Hlucháň and Tereza Němečková

We have both worked in development research for more than two decades. And yet, again and again we were amazed by stumbling upon great publications and scholars we didn’t know about. They may have worked in a neighbouring faculty in Prague or a smaller regional university. So, as simple as it may sound, this observation became the main motivation behind the creation of a national platform that would become the Czech Research Network for Global Development and Sustainability (CRENDES): to get to know each other. Fast forward, CRENDES celebrated its second anniversary in January 2026, and it is worth reflecting on how the network has grown and what challenges lie ahead.

15/05/202615/05/2026

Cooking Knowledge Together: Rethinking Collaboration in Academia

By Luca Sára Bródy

In an era of overlapping crises – from climate breakdown to deepening social inequalities – calls for more “impactful” research are everywhere. Universities promise solutions, funding bodies demand relevance, and scholars are expected to produce knowledge that can address urgent societal challenges. But what if the problem is not only what research produces, but how it is done – and why current ways of doing research so often fail to respond to these crises?

12/05/2026

Why Development Economics Should Claim Adaptation Finance

By Pınar Yardımcı

Adaptation to climate change has firmly entered the vocabulary of global development policy. From the Paris Agreement to the Sustainable Development Goals, international frameworks increasingly recognise that the most vulnerable countries need dedicated financial support to cope with a crisis they did not create. The rhetoric is unambiguous: adaptation is urgent, non-negotiable, and overdue.

05/05/2026

Why Knowledge Diplomacy Deserves More Attention

By Sibout Nooteboom / Shaping Sustainable Futures conference series

In a world where raw power dominates, countries often find it difficult to govern their internationally embedded value chains from a position of equality. Knowledge diplomacy may help to overcome this difficulty, as experiences from the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) suggest.

27/04/2026

The Consensus on Gender Equality was a Mirage: Reflections on CSW70

By Karmen Tornius and Lars Engberg-Pedersen

Speaking of the Commission on the Status of Women 70^th Session (CSW70), the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “The fact that the commission, for the first time in its history, went to a vote, tells us about the headwinds that we are all facing.” Many women’s organizations and feminists also rang the alarm bells. In all previous sessions, the CSW’s Agreed Conclusions had been adapted by consensus.