The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) is organizing its 6th Sustainable Development Conference on “Sustainable Development: Bridging the Research/Policy Gaps in Southern Contexts” in Islamabad during December 11-13, 2003. This Conference seeks to problematize knowledge production processes/research in relation to policies in the South. As there are gaps between policy and research at multiple levels, it will raise questions such as: who are the knowledge producers? Who raises the demands for knowledge production? What are the sites of knowledge production? Who uses such knowledge? Who benefits from new knowledge? What are the lessons learnt? And how can we bridge these gaps?

Specifically, the Conference will focus on the problematique of knowledge production about southern contexts in the South. It will explore policy/research gaps in two directions: in some places policy needs to be fed by better research while in others, policy needs to take better account of existing solid research. It will focus on the ways and means for translating this knowledge into effective policy initiatives locally, nationally, regionally and internationally by identifying the multiple gaps between research and policies in different sectors.

The Conference seeks to bring together theorists, researchers, creative thinkers, writers, activists, policy makers, and academicians to debate bridging the real and imagined gaps. How can the research we produce in third world contexts be translated into effective policy for sustainable development (SD)? Is SD only a question of reorienting the research/policy connections? Or, is it about claiming and putting value into the fragmented and disparate work that speaks to and about the third world? These questions will be tackled at several inter-related levels: in purely third world contexts; in terms of the relationship with first world institutions; and, within and between third world contexts.

The conference would address three themes.
1. Concepts and approaches: How can concrete situations be addressed in a trans-disciplinary manner? How can the specialized research be translated into effective policy measures?
2. Contexts and issues: Can specific contexts and issues be related to general trends and patterns? Can these trends and patterns identify the existing gaps?
3. Findings and recommendations: What are the lessons learnt and how to bridge the policy/research gaps?

The Conference will be multi and trans-disciplinary to open up new ways of seeing, which may lead to effective strategies for over-coming the gaps we presently face in policy making. The Conference will investigate critical policy issues ranging from the status of social sciences to issues of migration and urbanization, food security, employment, governance, gender, violence, poverty, the WTO regime and trade, renewable energy, and conflict. It will highlight the crosscutting linkages between such diverse themes and the increasingly complex demands upon the policy arena to respond to these issues quickly and effectively.

Sustainable Development Conference Series: A Background
SDPI’s Sustainable Development Conference series is another dimension of outreach to the general public as well as policy makers where emphasis is placed on emerging sustainable development issues in Pakistan. It is an important channel of policy advice where each session of the conference is followed by a panel discussion consisting of representatives from the government, community representatives, NGOs, and donor agencies.

First SDC
The first SDC, titled The Green Economics Conference, was organized by SDPI in 1995. This Conference focused on the interaction between economics and the environment, and included research papers on trade, fiscal policy, EIAs, green accounting, forestry, energy, industry and the urban environment.

Second SDC
The second SDC, in 1996, addressed the broad theme of sustainable development including pollution abatement, resource management, conservation of biodiversity, the transfer and use of technology, trade and environment, human development and poverty alleviation, and social capital and governance. The conference was successful in highlighting key issues facing the country and bringing out the latest thinking and analysis to identify solutions.

Third SDC
The theme of the third conference was A Dialogue on Environment and Natural Resource Conservation. The Conference, held in 1998, focused on stimulating a dialogue on practical policy options for key environmental challenges facing Pakistan. The two broad thematic areas of Urban Environment and Natural Resources concentrated on urban pollution, water resource management, deforestation and sustainable agriculture with presentations by experts from within Pakistan and the South Asian region.

Fourth SDC
The Fourth Sustainable Development Conference titled ‘Discourse on Human Security’ was organized in collaboration with RCSS, ActionAid, IPRI and SNPO in 2000. It focused on the changes and improvement in government policies and practice with regard to human security. The conference was designed to raise awareness of senior policy makers, key federal and provincial government officials and civil society groups like the media and NGOs on security issues. The immediate feedback from government, NGOs and media was extremely encouraging.

Fifth SDC
The fifth conference titled Sustainable Development and Southern Realities: Past and Future in South Asia critically re-examined the conceptualization and implementation of sustainable development in its multiple dimensions: economic, political, social, and moral. The conference scrutinized and consolidated some of the ideas presented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, and resituated debates in the South Asian context. The proceedings of the Fifth SDC are presently being edited and will be published by October 2003.