In 2014, to mark 40 years of international research, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is facilitating a series of events that highlight the ways in which livestock research advances the global development agenda, specifically for sustainable food and nutritional security, economic well-being and healthy lives.
These events bring together global, regional and local actors in sustainable livestock development, including farmers, the public and private sectors and research and development agencies.
We hope all staff will have an opportunity to join and contribute to some of the planned activities.
Objectives
Through this process, we aim to:
- Raise awareness about the important roles that livestock play in sustainable development globally.
- Showcase major accomplishments of ILRI, its forerunners and its partners;
- Look forward to the livestock research challenges and opportunities we can expect in the coming 40 years;
- Connect with former staff, students and alumni and strengthen relationships with partners;
Events
Under the theme ‘Livestock-based options for sustainable food and nutritional security, economic well-being and healthy lives’ the following main events are planned:
- 1 October –ILRI@40 event on the Nairobi campus. VIPs, scientists and key partners;
- 6-7 November – ILRI@40 event in Addis Ababa (following the Board). VIPs, senior staff and partners.
Leading up to these, we will organize official side events at various conferences organized by our partners (we will also contribute to other events in Montreal, Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Jogyakarta). The official side events will be:
- 18 September – Tropentag 2014, Prague;
- 15 October – ILRI@40 small events across different ILRI country offices worldwide;
- 16 October – Borlaug Dialogue, Des Moines;
- 28 October – 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture, Nairobi.
We also have two, more informal events planned on our main campuses:
- 8 November – ‘Family day’ on the Addis Ababa campus with staff, former staff and other alumni;
- 11 December – ILRI@40 as part of the staff end of year event in Nairobi.
Most of these events will have a scientific focus; we will complement this with more informal interactions with former staff and alumni, documenting and sharing memories and renewing friendships. Information on each event and its focus is on the ILRI@40 website and wiki.
Engagement
We are building several communications activities around these events. They will each be venues to share our research and engage with partners and key insights will be published across our various communications channels.
We expect to launch two major books as part of the events planned – the first on food safety, the other on African cattle breeds. We also aim to publish a series of impact briefs reporting on different research we have done.
We want to re-connect with former board, staff and alumni, inviting them to events, and tracking them down on LinkedIn, Facebook, the Internet and through word of mouth. We will also be exploring old archives, filing cabinets and servers to find photographs recording ILRI people and their work over the past 40 years. We need your help to seek out and contact former colleagues; also to unearth interesting photos.
What you can do now
Over the next few weeks, we will be calling on you for inputs and advice on the technical/scientific component of the events. In the meantime:
- Offer your support to one of the campus events (Nairobi 1 October; Addis 8 November). Nadine Sanginga will put you in touch (n.n.sanginga@cgiar.org)
- Contact any former staff or students you know and ask them to reconnect. Send them to https://40.ilri.org and ask them to register their information and join us on LinkedIn.
- Join the LinkedIn group, and forward the link to anyone working with international livestock research: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/International-Livestock-Research-7490762
- Search out any old photos you may have of ILRI, ILCA or ILRAD work. We need the names and places that go with them. For help scanning or digitizing these photos, contact Liya Dejene (l.dejene@cgiar.org).
Key links and more information
- https://40.ilri.org – information on ILRI@40 events and other activities. Will be updated as we progress.
- http://ilri40.wikispaces.com. – workspace with resource materials, logos, etc.
- https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ilri40– a survey to record your interests in ILRI@40 activities
Key contact
Nadine Sanginga in Nairobi: n.n.sanginga@cgiar.org
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