"From Ecohealth Research to Policy" Workshop gathered researchers and policy makers working in fields of agriculture and health in the same room to provide inputs for the first regional policy brief. What researchers have and what policy makers need will be reconciled in the upcoming publication. The activity is part of the Knowledge Translation component of the FBLI program funded by the IDRC / CRDI Canada and organized by Vietnam Public Health Association from 23 to 24 May in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
Photo: The " From Ecohealth Research to Policy" workshop was organized on May 23-24, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
The objectives of the workshop were: (i) to share and consolidate policy-relevant findings and key message from ecohealth research and capacity building conducted in four FBLI countries; (II) to synthesize the major results and lessons learned from KT, capacity building, and M&E activities, highlighting those that have regional importance and implications and (iii) to develop a format for producing one FBLI regional policy brief and three country briefs.
The workshop was opened by Prof. Dr. Le Vu Anh, President of the Vietnam Public Health Association (VPHA), which hosts the FBLI Coordinating Unit, and Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung, FBLI Coordinator. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Chun Lai, knowledge translation consultant, who was involved in the FBLI proposal development process in 2012.
Eighteen individuals from three countries (Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam) participated in the workshop. These included researchers (16) and policymarkers (2) from diverse professional and academic backgrounds. Due to administration constraints, none of Chinese team members could come. The main outcomes from the workshop is: (i) participants have enriched their knowledge on how to formulate a good policy brief based on research findings and lesson learned during the FBLI program implementation; (ii) specific suggestions for the further revision of country policy briefs were provided; (iii) key messages for the regional policy brief were formulated.
Photo: The participants were discussing actively at the workshop
The FBLI Regional KT Workshop ensured that participants gained a better understanding of how to develop policy briefs based on research evidences and lessons learned from FBLI ecohealth research, knowledge translation and capacity building activities. The workshop provided an opportunity for researchers to synthesize their key findings and articulate policy implications and recommendations, which will be used communicating key messages to policy audiences.
