Brown Bag Seminar
Paul Rabé – “‘South-South-North’ Knowledge Diplomacy as a Frame to guide Urban Research and Networks?”
In-person only: NI:C0826
Abstract:
In this talk, I will discuss the opportunities for a ‘South-South-North’ approach to urban research and action—an approach inspired by a pilot program at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) involving academics, civil society and policymakers collaborating in knowledge production and exchange as part of a multi-centered model of international cooperation. This model is no longer articulated around the old North-South paradigm, nor is it framed in restrictive regional or sectoral silos. I argue that an SSN approach could enrich urban research programs and methods in the following ways: by increasing the geographical scope of research collaborations and networks; by encouraging multistakeholder partnerships resulting in new methods of trans-disciplinary knowledge generation and dissemination; by supporting a more pragmatic and applied approach to environmental and social justice; and by expanding the traditional role of universities in the global North, from ‘ivory towers’ of knowledge to more active (and activist) players in their communities, as is the case in many parts of the global South. I will illustrate my proposals with examples from two action research networks: the River Cities Network (a global, transdisciplinary network committed to ecologically and socially inclusive revitalization of rivers and waterways) and the Southeast Asia Neighborhoods Network (an initiative for research, teaching and dissemination of knowledge on Southeast Asia through the prism of neighborhoods and urban communities).
About the speaker:
Paul Rabé is the academic coordinator of the urban cluster at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden, the Netherlands, where he manages the “Urban Knowledge Network Asia” and the “River Cities Network: Engaging with Waterways in the Anthropocene” (RCN). Paul is series editor of the book series “Asian Cities”, published with Amsterdam University Press. Paul also works at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he is lead expert in urban land governance and joint coordinator of the Urban Environment, Sustainability, and Climate Change academic track. Paul is a political scientist by training, with a doctoral degree (2009) in policy, planning and development from the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. Paul has over 25 years of experience in advisory work, capacity development, research, and teaching on urban policy, focused on urban land governance and the intersection of land (use) and the management of water and water bodies in urban and peri-urban areas.
This seminar is part of the IUR Brown Bag Seminar Series; check out the rest of the program. If you have any questions, please contact Defne Kadioglu.