Building skills for sustainability: a role for regional research networks

Abstract

In South Asia, as local and regional environment problems grow, societal demand for new sustainability knowledge has outpaced its supply by traditional institutions and created a niche for research networks and think tanks. We discuss the role of networks in producing knowledge by using the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) as a case study. We argue that geographic research networks can contribute to the growth of sustainability knowledge through (1) knowledge transfer, (2) knowledge sharing, and (3) knowledge deepening. By analyzing qualitative and quantitative information, we showed that although SANDEE participants gained significant intangible advantages from the network, there was also a noted tangible gain is in terms of a higher international publication rate. The SANDEE experience also suggests that policy outcomes are more likely to emerge from the buildup of human capital rather than from direct research interventions.