Under the aegis of UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST), the International Forum on the Social Science – Policy Nexus, held in Argentina and in Uruguay from February 20 to 24 2006, broke new ground in connecting social science research to policy. The Forum, organized in conjunction with the Governments of Argentina and Uruguay, and with the support of a wide range of academic, policy, and NGO partners, offered an innovative space for a new kind of dialogue, bringing together social science and policy in the search for a common language and shared terms of engagement.

Naved Chowdhury and Enrique Mendizabal, in collaboration with Vanesa Weyrauch, of CIPPEC in Buenos Aires, delivered a half-day workshop on bridging research and policy, the RAPID approach and the Civil Society Partnership Programme. John Young will join them and the collaborators from Bolivia and Peru, as well as other regional policy entrepreneurs, for a planning meeting for a regional community of practice on bridging research and policy. ODI will use this opportunity to strengthen links to regional institutions and practitioners as well as to share its work and efforts to inform and inspire pro-poor policy processes around the world.