3 Days in Berlin: The What Works Climate Solutions Summit (WWCS) experience

3 Days in Berlin: The What Works Climate Solutions Summit (WWCS) experience

The time is 07:20 on Monday the 10th of June. I am extremely exhausted, and after travelling 16 hours from South Africa, I was finally in Berlin for the inaugural What Works Climate Solutions Summit. As the plane descends, I gaze out of the window; the sprawling cityscape of Berlin unfolds beneath me, a mesmerising blend of historical landmarks and modern architecture. With its storied past, this city has risen from the ashes of division and conflict to become a vibrant hub of culture, creativity, and innovation. From its pivotal role in European history to its vibrant cultural scene, Berlin stands as a testament to the power of change and regeneration. The Berlin Wall, which once divided the city, now serves as a powerful symbol of unity and hope. The sprawling urban landscape, dotted with iconic landmarks like the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, showcases a city that has continuously rebuilt and reinvented itself. As we land, I look forward to exploring this inspiring city and contributing to the important conversations at the summit. I am eager to delve into discussions on sustainable climate change solutions and collaborate with passionate individuals from around the globe at WWCS. Soon after landing, I headed straight to my lodging located near Checkpoint Charlie, which I would later learn to be one of the most famous (or infamous) border crossing points between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. But today, Checkpoint Charlie is a significant historical site and a major tourist attraction, standing as a powerful reminder of Berlin’s turbulent past and the enduring human spirit in the quest for freedom.

The time is 15:00. I am now at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), where the summit is being held. The parallel session is dubbed “Science and Policy Interface”, room H0010. I am having a huge fight with one of God’s greatest creations: sleep. It is round 12, and I seem to be winning because of one key reason: we have to share our experience developing evidence bases for decision-makers in South Africa.  By design (begging the facilitator to move around the programme), my presentation followed Laurenz Mahlanza-Langer’s (our Executive Director at the Pan-African Collective for Evidence) “Institutionalising the use of evidence in environmental policy decision-making in South Africa: on process, structures, and good governance of evidence”. As an extension to Laurenz’s piece, my presentation was titled “Co-production of a policy-relevant evidence map of South African environmental evidence”. In my presentation, I highlighted the benefits of co-producing, albeit with challenges, a policy-relevant map with and for South African environmental decision-makers that covered 14 environmental areas, namely waste, agriculture, biodiversity, air quality, land, forestry, fisheries, mining, water, pollution, oceans & coasts, climate, energy, and sustainable development. Essentially, to ensure that we produce relevant and policy-matched evidence at policy-makers' fingertips, our approach combines evidence management based on synthesis with co-production. It is anchored on the South African National Government of Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME)’s evidence synthesis methodology to develop policy-relevant evidence bases for knowledge management and knowledge translation. We drew on their methodology and co-produced an online (public good) evidence map of South African environmental research. Suffice it to say that our presentations were well received during and after the parallel session. Attendees were eager to understand better how we engage policymakers in the co-production of our evidence bases (evidence maps) and how this has culminated in using evidence in decision-making. For the next three days during breaks, I met several individuals who attended our session and appreciated our approach to developing evidence bases tailored for decision-makers. Not only was this motivating, but it was also wonderful to see our approach garnering so much interest. But co-producing evidence bases with policy-makers is not as easy as it may sound. Identifying and developing relationships with evidence champions in government institutions takes time. Sometimes, these relationships may need to go beyond formal engagement to build trust. The process can become disheartening when an evidence champion you have worked with over a long period, say, departs from the government institution. It almost becomes a back-to-square-one type of situation- of building new relationships, re-orientation, etc. The show, however, must go on.

Fast forward to Wednesday, the 12th of June, a combined total of 200-plus presentations have been delivered at the summit throughout three and a half days.  More than 300 individuals from across the globe have been represented at WWCS. I mixed with familiar faces, made new connections, and also got to meet individuals I have worked with online for the first time in person over the years. It is down to the final panel on “The Future of Evidence in Climate Policy”. Yours truly is part of this panel. It is a memorable one for me. I am among the giants in the evidence synthesis and climate space. As we sat just after 17:00, on my right was Prof James Thomas, and on my left was Prof Ruth Stewart; both are individuals that I had looked up to since the beginning of my journey in evidence synthesis seven years ago. Prof Ruth Stewart introduced me to evidence synthesis and subsequently mentored me over the years. This is the first time we are on the same panel together. Prof James Thomas leads the development of EPPI-Reviewer, a software that manages data through all stages of a systematic review, a software that I utilise day-to-day. So, my admiration for his work is for obvious reasons. I am only meeting other panellists for the first time in person at the summit, namely Will Moy (CEO of Campbell Collaboration) and Prof Winston Chow (Associate Professor of Urban Climate and Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow based at Singapore Management University’s (SMU). As expected, I had the pleasure of having informal interactions with Will and Winston, and I salute their work and efforts.  So, at this point, I feel like I am sitting at the “Big Boy's” Table. In my native language lingo, we say “pamamonya ipapo”.

Back to serious business. The panel, expertly guided by Jenn Thornhill Verma (the Senior Advisor, Policy and System Impacts at McMaster Health Forum), explored, among other issues, the need to move forward to generate evidence climate solutions rapidly whilst acknowledging that there are so many hurdles to be overcome the power of strong networks; the need to leverage AI dispute it not being the magic bullet and my favourite-co-production of evidence to ensure legitimacy thereby enhancing the likelihood of decision-makers use of evidence. The future of evidence in climate policy, after all is said and done, requires a strong united front among numerous players- producers of evidence, funders of evidence production activities, and ultimately, the policy-makers themselves. The future is here, now!

“The environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.” – Lady Bird Johnson.

Exactly 24 hours after the final panel i bid Berlin Auf Wiedersehen!

About the author: Promise Nduku is an evidence synthesis specialist with a background in development economics currently working in the evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) space. He is involved in conducting, supporting, and planning external and internal empirical research in relation to evidence-informed decision-making, including evidence syntheses, evidence networks, and mechanisms for evidence use, among others. Knowledge translator involved in high-level stakeholder engagement with decision-makers and driven by the ultimate objective of becoming a leading EIDM and development economics researcher. An ardent supporter of embracing sustainable development, inclusive growth in particular, as an effective tool for poverty and inequality alleviation. An advocate of production and use of data and evidence as a tool for social change. Enthusiastic about continuously learning new ways to contribute to poverty and inequality reduction.

Acknowledgements: The author(s) is solely responsible for the content of this article, including all errors or omissions; acknowledgements do not imply endorsement of the content. The author is grateful to Charity Chisoro for her guidance in preparing and finalising this article, as well as her editorial support.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in published blog posts, as well as any errors or omissions, are the sole responsibility of the author/s and do not represent the views of the Africa Evidence Network, its secretariat, advisory or reference groups, or its funders; nor does it imply endorsement by the afore-mentioned parties.

Suggested citation: Nduku P (2024) 3 Days in Berlin: The What Works Climate Solutions Summit (WWCS) experience. Blog posting on 20 June 2024. Available at: https://www.africaevidencenetwork.org/en/learning-space/article/326/