Scottish Initiative for International Development Sciences

A project implemented for the Scottish Government's Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser, jointly with the Universities of Aberdeen, Glasgow and Stirling.

The final report of the SIIDS Scoping Study is now available. (Download PDF)

The Scottish Initiative for International Development Science (SIIDS) is a concept that has developed from a broad-based consultative process. The SIIDS scoping study considered how Scottish tertiary education and research institutions would enhance the long-term sustainable impact of their already significant international development activities by adopting a collaborative approach building on other collaborative examples in these sectors.

The study concluded that a collaborative approach to international development in Scotland would deliver significant added value to the developing world, to Scottish institutions and the Scottish economy, as well as to external stakeholders such as international development agencies and NGOs. The scoping study proposes that the purpose for SIIDS should be that: “SIIDS will act as a hub to promote collaborative working, capacity building and knowledge exchange between Scottish tertiary education and research institutions and their partners in developing and developed countries. SIIDS will enhance Scotland’s reputation as a responsible nation in the world, making a distinctive contribution by mobilising Scotland’s skills and expertise to support developing countries to achieve the MDGs and sustainable economic growth.”

It was proposed that SIIDS should adopt a facilitating role and should not be owned by any one institution. The functions that SIIDS should adopt would then be seen as adding value to existing initiatives and institutional arrangements. The main outcomes of SIIDS would be the delivery of:

• A portal for international development activities for Scotland tertiary education and research institutions, promoting communication between stakeholders and providing increased visibility for Scotland’s research, education and knowledge exchange activities;
  
  
• A neutral policy forum for international development as a space to bring researchers and policy-makers together to discuss current and emerging issues. SIIDS would provide researchers with tools and training to enhance the policy-relevance and impact of their work;
  
  
• Empowerment of Scottish institutions and their partners from developing countries to build collaborative approaches for research, education and knowledge exchange to achieve the MDGs and promote sustainable economic growth; and
  
  
• Increased capacity in Scottish and developing country institutions to deliver results through effective collaborative approaches in support of international development.

In addition to these core deliverables, SIIDS would act to support the development of a number of related activities to be implemented as collaborative projects. These projects would be implemented by one or more of the institutions participating in SIIDS as the initiative itself would not implement projects. The SIIDS Scoping Study concluded in December 2008 with a recommendation that stakeholders should be consulted on options for the future development of the SIIDS concept to agree on the way forward. This would include defining the roles for the initiative and the design of appropriate institutional structures and addressing funding mechanisms. There were further discussions during the first half of 2009 leading to a consultative process launched in July 2009 under the title of the “Scottish Collaborative Alliance for International Development (SCAID).

For further information on SCAID please contact the Secretary to the SCAID Steering Group. Alec Cumming (alec.cumming@abdn.ac.uk)