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MarshalLing knowledge in the service of development
21 12 2016
Jacques Brulhet
A note on the InterAcadeMic Group for Development (GID : www.g-i-d.org )
In marshalling knowledge in the service of development, the GID promotes one of the UN’s Millenium Development Goals, namely Bridging the gap between scientific output and the needs of the stakeholders.
From Dr J Brulhet, French Secretary of G I D
The Académie d’agriculture de France, member of UEAA is also one of the founding academic institutions of the « Groupe Interacadémique pour le Développement » (GID).
GID is an international association that was initiated in France and established in 2007 by eleven academic institutions in Africa and southern Europe. In marshalling knowledge in the service of development, the GID promotes one of the UN’s Millenium Development Goals, namely bridging the gap between scientific output and the needs of the stakeholders.
The founding of the GID by European and African academic institutions attests to the organization’s commitment to genuine joint European and African development, without which sustainable development is merely a pipe dream.
Members of GID are :
- From France : Académie des sciences, Académie des sciences morales et politiques, Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Académie nationale de médecine, Académie d’agriculture de France, Académie des technologies, Académie des sciences d’Outre-Mer.
- From Italy : Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
- From Egypt : Bibliothèque Alexandrine
- From Morocco : Académie Hassan II des sciences et techniques
- From Sénégal : Académie nationale des sciences et techniques
In the interest of reaching the objectives of GID, the GID have initiated two key academic networks, in whose creation the GID was instrumental : GID-EMAN and GID-ESAN (Euro-Subsaharian Academic Network).
- GID-EMAN :
Bearing in mind all the countries that share the Mediterranean Sea, GID has given rise to the creation of the Euro-Mediterranean Academic Network (GID-EMAN) that gathers about thirty academies and is still expanding. GID-EMAN conventions (Parmenides), gather every year scientists, technologists and more extensively all the actors involved in development for a specific field under consideration – decision makers, economists, experts in human sciences, GID partners – as well as representatives of society.
Their objective is to reveal and bring to the fore real development needs, confront them to knowledge either available or requiring further exploration, identify the scientific, technological, socioeconomic or cultural impediments to mobilizing knowledge in the service of development, and draw up recommendations to overcome them.
- GID-ESAN :
The GID-ESAN is the Euro-Subsaharian Academic Network is about to be formed around the founding academy of GID and numbers academic institutions of Africa.
A first Euro-Sub-Saharan Convention, named FastDev (African Convention on Sciences and Technologies for Development), have been organized beginning of 2016, on the thema of employment in Africa, with the same objectives and the same actors than Parmenides.
As agriculture have a major role in the development of subsaharian countries, the Académie d’agriculture de France will be fully involved in this FastDev program in the nexte few years.
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In summary, GID :
- comprisesa unique constellation of knowledge and experience; the diversity of its areas of expertise enable it to address development issues in all of their technological, socio-economic and cultural complexity;
- is, by virtue of its academic nature, an autonomous entity that pursues no partisan agenda;
- conducts its activities strictly based on a “supply-side” policy, to which end the GID solicits the views of and listens carefully to such stakeholders, when it comes to their actual development needs;
- is unwaveringly committed to ensuring that each and every one of its actions creates value – and refrains from carrying out actions in cases where others are in a better position to do so;
- is open to any type of partnership that will strengthen its ability to act.
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Paris, 19 December 2016