Chataway Named President of EuroLics

Professor of Biotechnology and Development and IKD member Joanna Chataway has been named as the first president of EuroLics. Established in September 2014 to bring together researchers who link innovation and competence building to inclusive and sustainable development, EuroLics is the latest regional chapter of Globelics (Global Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems), a major platform for North-South and South-South interactive learning.

To help meet its mission of contributing to knowledge infrastructure in regions where the capabilities necessary for innovation-related research are scarce, Eurolics will organise training and workshops for – amongst others – policymakers, European Aid agencies and the private sector, and act as a basis for research project applications. An additional priority is to improve access to global research resources for young scholars from Europe’s least developed regions.

Professor Chataway is also Vice-President of Globelics, which aims at theoretical advancement based on three broad observations:

• Learning and interaction are both key to successful innovation and development: process and outcome are often inseparable.
• Local context matters: highly abstract analysis or policy that ignores the specificities of environment will be of limited use.
• Innovation goes beyond R&D: successful innovation often requires a mix of experience-based learning and research, and social and institutional change is often needed.

Read more about EuroLics or Globelics.