Tschirley delivers keynote address during Innovation Lab Council 2024 Regional Partner’s Meeting

Sierra Jezuit<jezuitsi@msu.edu> -

The Innovation Lab Council 2024 Regional Partner’s Meeting offers opportunities for learning across Labs and partners regarding their experience in bringing Lab innovations to scale

On April 22-26th, USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab leaders, many of their local partners, government officials from Nepal and other key stakeholders came together for the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab Council 2024 Regional Partner’s Meeting, “Translating Research to Action – Opportunities for Evidence-Based Scaling of Agri-Food Systems Innovations.” Hosted in Kathmandu, Nepal, this gathering provides opportunities for learning across Labs and partners regarding their experience in bringing Lab innovations to scale.

David Tschirley, director of the USAID-funded Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research, Policy and Influence (PRCI), set the tone of the gathering in one of the meeting’s two keynote addresses. In his presentation, entitled “Innovation, localization, and the messy path to nth-best scaled solutions,” Tschirley conceives scaling of innovations as the outcome of a “deep localization” process of dialogue and bargaining among multiple stakeholders and emphasizes how dynamic, unpredictable and “messy” the process is.  He notes that the inevitable outcome of this process is “nth-best solutions,” which he defines as the best available solution given the dynamics and constraints of the system one is operating in. Such outcomes are typically far from what a researcher would consider “best,” yet the alternative often is that no solution emerges at all.

The bottom-line message from Tschirley’s presentation is that transformation and innovation are happening without any input from ILs, and the job of ILs is to understand these processes of transformation and “figure out how to bring added value to them” through their research and potential innovations. He emphasized that this understanding needs to inform both “what the Labs work on and how they work on it.” 

A key objective of the remainder of the meeting is to begin a process of Labs learning from each other, leading to a consensus on good practices to increase the impact of their work.

Access Tschirley's presentation below
Innovation, localization, and the messy path to nth-best scaled solutions

 

Did you find this article useful?

You Might Also Be Interested In

Tag List
  • food security group,
  • innovation lab for food security policy research capacity & influence,
  • prci news
Michigan State University
  • Spartans Will.
  • © Michigan State University

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer, committed to achieving excellence through a diverse workforce and inclusive culture that encourages all people to reach their full potential.

Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Quentin Tyler, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.

The 4-H Name and Emblem have special protections from Congress, protected by code 18 USC 707.

We comply with the Federal Trade Commission 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).