Tanty N Djafar
Since 2012, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Agency for Research and Policy Development (Badan Pengkajian dan Pengembangam Kebijakan, BPPK) has been partnering with the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) at the University of Göttingen, Germany to undertake research on the changing uses of tropical lowland rainforests in Indonesia. Researchers involved in the collaboration have produced 62 articles which have been published in academic journals.
In September, BPKK approached KSI for help on using their research to develop articles for mainstream media as well as policy briefs. This is timely given that the European Commission is expected to visit Indonesia soon to discuss the social and environmental impact of palm oil.
KSI introduced BPPK to The Conversation, an independent media outlet where academics and researchers can share their research with the public and Aliansi Riset Kebijakan (ARK) Indonesia, a network of think tanks committed to improving the quality of policy research in Indonesia.
ARK Indonesia has offered to support BPPK to develop the policy briefs and The Conversation has offered to assist BPPK to develop media-worthy articles and publish them on its website. BPPK, The Conversation, and ARK Indonesia are now working together to identify specific areas of support.
