{"id":128,"date":"2026-07-10T08:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T08:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/?p=128"},"modified":"2026-09-21T08:23:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T08:23:25","slug":"making-sdg-interactions-work-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/making-sdg-interactions-work-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Making SDG Interactions Work Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The &#8220;Making SDG Interactions Work&#8221; Conference was a great opportunity for our project to share and discuss research results and societal impact activities.\u00a0 Our project highlighted that implementing the SDGs requires coordinated action across varying sectors, actors, and levels of government. Through case studies in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, the researchers provided empirical evidence demonstrating that single, siloed interventions rarely succeed without addressing socioeconomic conditions and local governance structures. Here&#8217;s an overview of some of the contributions from our project.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b data-path-to-node=\"6,4,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Dr. Nowella Anyango-van Zwieten<\/b>: During a lively discussion regarding the politicization of science and the legitimacy of researchers engaging in policy, Dr. Anyango-van Zwieten challenged the conventional boundaries of academia. She questioned the specific role that researchers and academics should play, noting that making the conscious choice to act as a bridge between politics and policy is, in itself, an inherently political act.<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6,1,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"6,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Dereje Amene Yimam &amp; Aytenew Endeshaw Tatek<\/b>: As researchers for the project\u2019s Ethiopian case studies, they focused on landscape restoration (SDG 15) in the Lake Tana sub-basin and its intersection with food security, water, and climate change. Their empirical evidence demonstrated that single interventions often yield minimal impact. However, bundling biophysical restoration (like soil and water conservation) with socioeconomic interventions (like credit provision) creates powerful synergies that drive progress across multiple SDGs simultaneously.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6,2,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"6,2,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Charles Tonui<\/b>: A PhD researcher within the project focusing on the governance arrangements of SDGs in East Africa. His work investigates the \u201cSDG financing architecture\u201d and the roles of shared systems of rules to create inclusive, polycentric governance. His research highlights how donor coordination and evidence-informed policymaking play a vital role in local sustainability outcomes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6,3,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"6,3,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Rachel Gitundu<\/b>: During the second day of the conference\u2014which shifted focus from research to action-oriented policy\u2014Gitundu served as a moderator alongside Bram Peters. She led the policy panels, dialogue tables, and co-creation labs, actively challenging participants to take the empirical lessons emerging from the research and apply them to navigate SDG interactions and strengthen real-world policy coherence.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6,5,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"6,5,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Annita Kirwa<\/b>: Beyond organizing components of the project&#8217;s dissemination, Kirwa authored this comprehensive Vice Versa report, synthesizing the highly complex, multi-day discussions into an accessible format that bridges the gap between the academic findings and the public policy community.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For the full report, written by our project&#8217;s PhD candidate Annita Kirwa, see <a href=\"https:\/\/viceversaonline.nl\/2026\/07\/31\/making-sdg-interactions-work-from-evidence-to-coherent-and-inclusive-decisions\/\">https:\/\/viceversaonline.nl\/2026\/07\/31\/making-sdg-interactions-work-from-evidence-to-coherent-and-inclusive-decisions\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-132\" src=\"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-02-closing-panel-Utrecht.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-02-closing-panel-Utrecht.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-02-closing-panel-Utrecht-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-02-closing-panel-Utrecht-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Closing panel discussion led by\u00a0Dr Ellen Mangnus, with Dr Kritika Saxena, Dr Karlijn Morsink and Prof. Art Dewulf \u00a9 Olivia Decker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The &#8220;Making SDG Interactions Work&#8221; Conference was a great opportunity for our project to share and discuss research results and societal impact activities.\u00a0 Our project highlighted that implementing the SDGs requires coordinated action across varying sectors, actors, and levels of government. Through case studies in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, the researchers provided empirical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions\/133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.wur.nl\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}