Director's introduction
Research for Development and Justice
2009 was a momentous year for the Institute. After more than forty years at Fantoft we moved downtown, to a brand new building owned jointly with the University of Bergen, and located close to academic institutions working in our own area of international and global studies. We are confident and determined that the move will intensify collaboration with university colleagues, make us more accessible to the public, and open up new areas of research.
At the beginning of 2010, we have also come towards the end of the CMI strategy that has governed our activities since 2006. It was titled “Research for development and justice”, thereby underscoring our position as a policy-oriented research institute concerned with the plights of millions of people suffering from poverty, violation of human rights and serious conflict. As part of the strategy we adopted a thematic, multidisciplinary organisation of research - well rooted in CMI’s expertise - and we also set clear goals in respect of increased publishing output; enhanced visibility in the media; engagement in public debate; strengthened efforts to inform and influence policy; continued emphasis on long-term research partnerships and international networks; and improved financial robustness.
This will be the last annual report that I sign as CMI director. I would like to emphasize that during my period as director, commitment to scholarly excellence has been the foundation for policy influence and media visibility. A main pillar of the strategy has been to make CMI increasingly research-led, pursuing and renewing our intellectual agendas through research of sufficient quality and scale allowing it to invigorate other activities, including commissioned studies, communication and student supervision. There is, however, also a reverse causation: applied research gives important impulses to theoretically oriented work, and can challenge its policy relevance.
We must retain our identity as a multi-disciplinary institute doing comparative development and global research based on solid country and regional knowledge.
For such reasons, CMI is also an academic research institute and our efforts in this direction have earned increasing recognition among both peers and public, not least in the 2006 evaluation of the Institute which concluded that CMI is now one of the leading European institutes within development studies. In brief, we have seen it as our mission to be an open intellectual community, research-led in selected areas, visible, network-based, collaborating with strong partners and sensitive to Southern perspectives.
At the end of 2009, it is gratifying to see that we have reached many of the objectives we set for ourselves. Particularly pleasing are the strides we have made regarding publishing output and visibility. 2009 was a record year for publications by staff and many colleagues have been active in public debate on a host of international issues, including Norwegian aid. Despite funding problems, we also managed to continue quite extensive research and capacity building cooperation with partners in the South, including the start-up of new programs in Angola and Sudan. Our efforts to improve the economy of the Institute have also been successful thanks to tremendous efforts by our staff, but this is an area where we must continuously be on the alert.
Despite achievements, there will be many challenges ahead and I will mention only a few of them. First, we must see to it that we provide the right support and retain dynamics at the level where research initiatives are made and projects run, i.e. on the level of researchers, projects and programs. It will be very important to safeguard longer-term research and to ensure that research programmes continue to be a main pillar of our activities. Second, we must retain our identity as a multi-disciplinary institute doing comparative development and global research based on solid country and regional knowledge and jointly (as much as possible) with colleagues in the South as well as in our own part of the world. Third, CMI must continue to diversify sources of income and decrease dependence and vulnerability. This must include commissioned research and partnerships with other research institutions, not least in Europe where we may need more stable constellations.
It has been a great privilege to lead CMI, and I cannot think of a better job. I have been supported and carried forward by a team of highly qualified and motivated staff members, always keen to perform at their best. CMI is a thriving environment for research and a place where colleagues care about each other, are eager to cooperate, and are dedicated to giving their best. For me, it is reassuring that, in giving up my position and returning to full-time research, I leave the directorship in the hands of Ottar Mæstad who has a background at CMI as an economist and a research director. I wish Ottar all the best in this the most challenging and interesting job.
