Report of a workshop
In his closing remarks, ISNAR's Director General Alexander von der Osten expressed his satisfaction with the workshop. There was good, intensive interaction, and ISNAR had received the feedback it hoped for. He noted that the meeting confirmed the need for practical management tools and guidelines, suitable adapted to the needs and circumstances of different NARS. For ISNAR to produce these it had to concentrate its efforts on a selected number of management topics. Here the priorities selected by ISNAR had been reconfirmed at the meeting. The working methods had been supported, too, along with the idea of starting small and building up gradually, while refining the techniques. It was clear that working in isolation is unproductive, said von der Osten. ISNAR needs to collaborate with future users of its products in joint efforts in the design, adaptation, and testing of management tools-just as farmer involvement in technology design is the key to success in agricultural research. He recognized that ISNAR's work on the various topics was at differing stages of advancement, reflecting the state of the art. Some was still at the level of developing the conceptual understanding of the problem, while some was well on the way to producing the desired guidelines and management tools in specific areas. The feedback from the participants was very useful in giving guidance and suggestions for future efforts. Many important points were recommended, including: (1) Support for the ATMS approach as giving a broader picture of the NARS environment; recommendation that it should not become a separate ISNAR thrust, but rather remain as a support to the review of NARS work, where the policy environment is a major constraint on the system. (2) ISNAR should do further work on the applicability and necessary adaptation of strategic planning methodologies for NARS. (3) ISNAR should continue work on how priority setting and resource allocation could be linked in methodology and process, and should produce a set of methodology for use in different circumstances. (4) ISNAR should continue the work on developing guidelines for institutionalizing OFCOR. (5) The network research should produce methods and instruments for evaluating the benefits of network participation, for both the participants and users of technology, and should highlight benefits for use in gaining support from policy makers. (6) ISNAR should consider helping to arrange a program for inter-country experience and technology exchange in development of MIS. (7) ISNAR should clarify the concept of PBS and develop well-documented, simple, easy-to-use demonstration software for PBS, but should leave the local development and application in specific countries to the staff of the NARS. (8) ISNAR should develop the guidelines for ongoing M/E and offer training at various levels of management as soon as possible. (9) ISNAR should help local training institutions develop a capacity in training for agricultural research management, initially at the level of individual staff members who can collaborate with ISNAR. Overall, the emphasis was on producing tools that were practical, simple to use, and requiring as little specilized manpower as possible. All the points made and recommendations will be considered carefully by ISNAR as it reviews its own program and plans its work program
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
The Hague (Países Bajos)
1987
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