Investing in network leadership
19-02-24
In 2023, we intensified our efforts to support members of the Danida Fellows Network, helping them to inspire, connect and take action, using skills and knowledge gained from Danida Fellowship Centre’s learning programmes or Danida-funded research projects.
In collaboration with the Collective Leadership Institute (CLI), we embarked on developing network leadership competencies with the goal of creating a global community of practice for network coordinators.
To kick-start this initiative, 26 coordinators from 11 countries gathered in Tanzania in January 2023 for a four-day “Learning and Inspiration” workshop. The workshop fostered an increase in collaboration and the exchange of ideas, and introduced new network leadership tools and practices that were since adopted across the Danida Fellows Network in the course of the year. Notably, networks in Argentina, Kenya and Mexico took up the torch and strengthened their efforts. This included, among other activities, the Danida Alumni Network Argentina organising a “Water Adaptation Conference” in Buenos Aires to bring together water management leaders for knowledge sharing and solution development, and the Danida Alumni Network Kenya collaborating with the sector counselors on energy and the green transition at the Danish Embassy in Kenya to support new Strategic Sector Cooperation projects. Furthermore, the Mexican network, in partnership with the Danish Embassy in Mexico, initiated the production of the manual “Good Animal Husbandry Practices – a guide for small-scale producers”, which was distributed to rural small-scale producers in Jalisco.
Subsequently, in November, we hosted a two-day webinar on network development and management, which provided training in CLI’s Dialogical Change Model. Thirty national network coordinators from 13 countries participated. The activity not only imparted essential network leadership skills and knowledge but also facilitated connections between coordinators, enabling ongoing peer support and collective learning.
In 2023, the Danida Fellows Network expanded its reach by welcoming four new national alumni networks – in Argentina, Brazil, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. This growth brought the total number of active national alumni networks to 15.
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The learning and Inspiration workshop in January
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