I nternational conference on
Transition and Local
Development in Eastern DRC
IOB co-organised an international conference in Bukavu,
DR Congo, on 8, 9 and 10 December 2016. The theme of
the conference was ‘Transition and Local Development in
Eastern DRC’. Its aim was to provide an overview of the
current social science research on transitions and local
developments in eastern DRC, to bridge the policy-ac-
ademia divide, and to bring together a host of research
institutions.
The first two days of the conference were mainly aca-
demic in content: 48 research papers were presented,
two keynotes were given and there was a roundtable on
‘international networks and national research capacity’.
The third day reached out to various stakeholders by
means of a roundtable on ‘Bridging the gap between pol-
icy and research’ and three thematic workshops in which
researchers communicated their main results and policy
recommendations in a concise way to policymakers.
Details of the conference programme can be found here:
http://cegemi.com/index.php/bukavu-conference-2016/
The conference attracted over 150 participants from
about 70 different institutions, including research insti-
tutions, government institutions, NGOs, think tanks and
private firms. Among the research institutes, we counted
ten North-based universities (of which two were North
American), the four main universities of Bukavu (Univer-
sité Catholique de Bukavu [UCB], Université Evangélique
de Bukavu, Université Officiele de Bukavu, and Institut
Supérieur de Développement Rural) and various other
local research institutes.
The initiative for the conference was taken by IOB and
UCB, but – as the conference gained momentum –
several other partners were included. In the end, the
conference was jointly organised by four North-based
institutions – New York University Abu Dhabi, the Peace
Research Institute Oslo, Wageningen University and
Research, and the University of Antwerp-IOB – in collab-
oration with 12 Congolese partner institutions.
The initial VLIR-UOS funding was topped up with fund-
ing from New York University Abu Dhabi, the Norwegian
Research Council, the Secure Livelihoods Research Con-
sortium and the Netherlands Scientific Council.
Annual Report 2016 • 13