RDI Network - Research for Development Impact Network

The 2022 RDI Conference was delivered digitally via the Whova and Zoom. The integrated online solution created an authentic event experience for every attendee. It was a seamlessly interactive 2-day conference and Student Forum with personalised options for creating an agenda, participating in Q&A, polling, competitions and networking.

Download the 2021 full program here.

The 2022 RDI Conference is now available for free to view on Youtube. See the links below.

Due to the online environment, there were multiple ways to join the 2021 RDI Conference, including streaming videos live, watching our recordings, and participating in our Reddit-style, text-based sessions.

Transcripts to our Reddit-Style, text-based sessions are now available:

• #4 Reddit-style Q&A with Linh Do. Ask one of Australia’s leading young climate activists about climate change, activism, youth leadership or the future. Link to Linh’s discussion transcript
• #31 Individual Papers: Effective Communication in Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific
  • #31.1 Communications Practices and Media Reporting on Climate Change. Prashanth Pillay, Kate Seymour, Vipul Khosl, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) International Development. Link to communications practices discussion transcript
  • #31.2 En-Gendering Climate Information Services for Agricultural Adaptation. Rachel S. Friedman, ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions. Link to en-genderig climate info discussion transcript

Watch the entire 2021 RDI Pre-Conference program.

Download the 2021 full program here.

• Pre-Conference Event #1: The Future is Feminist – Gender Transformative & Inclusive Development. Featuring Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls,, Shifting the Power Coalition; Flora Vano, ActionAid Vanuatu / Women I Tok Tugetha Network; Lanieta Tuimabu, Fiji Disabled People’s Federation, member of the Pacific Disability Forum women’s network & Shifting the Power Coalition Gender & Disability Focal Point; Carolyn Kitione, Shifting the Power Coalition. Moderator: Michelle Higelin, ActionAid Australia. Watch this video.
• Pre-Conference Event #2: Collaborating on Peaceful Futures in Asia and the Pacific. Featuring Susanne Schmeidl, UNSW Sydney, swisspeace & RDI Network Committee (chair); Helen Bishop, Women Mediators across the Commonwelath; Tania Miletic, Initiative  for Peacebuilding, University of Melbourne; Rachael Diprose, University of Melbourne & DSAA Conflict, Justice, Peace and Development Research Group; (Waskam) Emelda Davis, Chairwoman – Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) (‘ASSIPJ’); Anthony Ware; Deakin University & Development Studies Association of Australia (DSAA); James Cox, Peacifica; Patricia Garcia, Institute for Economics and Peace. Watch this recording. 
• Pre-Conference Event #3: Imagining Feminist Futures After COVID-19: An interactive, virtual workshop. Featuring Alice Ridge, International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). In this workshop, participants will engage in a 3-hour interactive, virtual discussion to explore the potential impacts of COVID-19 on trends which are observable today.
• Pre-Conference Event #5: Toksave Pacific Gender Resource – the new home for Pacific gender research. Featuring Associate Professor Yvonne Underhill-Sem, University of Auckland; Dr Margaret Mishra, University of the South Pacific; Professor Nicole Haley, Australian National University. The Toksave Pacific Gender Resource is a new online portal that aims to make quality research on gender in the Pacific discoverable and accessible. Watch the launch recording. 

Only got 4mins to spare? 

Check out these research shorts:

• Furthering Blue Carbon as a Function of Seagrass Meadows, Yusmiana Puspitaningsih Rahayu, The University of Western Australia (2021 Australia Awards Scholar). Watch this short. 
• Have built environment practitioners considered everyone when designing communal sanitary facilities? – Intersectionality within the built environment to design accessible and inclusive toilets suitable for SOGIESC with disability, Saumya Kaushik, Monash University. Watch this short. 
• Circumventing Challenges – Exploring Virtual Volunteering, Joseph Kolapudi, SolveSquad. Watch this short. 

Watch the entire playlist on Youtube.

Watch selected 2021 RDI Conference Student Forum sessions.

Download the 2021 full program here.

• #2 Keynote: Youth Leadership in Aid and Development. Nathan Linton, Head of International Engagement, Oaktree Australia. Watch keynote recording.
• #3 Panel: Leadership through Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Hosted by University of Queensland Ventures. Featuring current student leaders and social enterprise founders, this panel will explore social innovation, and how the entrepreneurial mindset can support students’ personal professional journey as well create positive change for their communities. Watch panel recording.
• #5 Latest in development research. Presentations on recent research (10min each and short Q&A) on Adapting to disruption: COVID -19 responses from Australian Development scholarship alumni – Leyna Clarke & Jo Doyle, ACER; Using social media to motivate and inspire our people – Thomas Hukahu, PNG journalist; and Stories of Resilience by Awagasi Market Vendors in Lae city Papua New Guinea – Wilma Molus, School of Design, Queensland University of Technology. Watch presentation recording. 
• #6 Panel: Introduction to Working in the Aid & Development Sector. Australian Council for International Development. Watch recording.
• #7 Keynote: Creating Impact through purpose-led business. Danielle Duell – Founder and CEO of People with Purpose. Watch keynote recording.
• #8 NextGen Impact for Food Security. Hosted by the Crawford Fund. Agricultural research for food and nutrition security can deliver global, professional and personal impacts! This live interactive Crawford Fund NextGen panel and Q&A event features passionate researchers highlighting their work in agriculture. Watch panel recording.
• #11 Inclusive Research Methods. The Asia Foundation. Over the past year, The Asia Foundation (TAF), in partnership with Kore Global and with support from DFAT, has been leading a six-country qualitative research study on Inequalities in Asian Cities. This research has been unique in having the dual objective of documenting the impact of COVID19 on disadvantaged groups living in urban settings, along with an explicit focus of building research capacities and confidence of our country-office staff. Watch recording.

Watch the full playlist on Youtube.

Watch selected 2021 RDI Conference sessions.

Download the 2021 full program here.

View 2021 RDI Conference Keynote Speakers: 

• #16 Keynote: The Big Picture: Perspectives from the Frontline. Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls – Shifting the Power Coalition; Carolyn Kitione, Shifting the Power Coalition; Sarity Dodson and the regional staff from the Fred Hollows foundation; Berta Antonieta, Grupu Feminista Timor-Leste; Emeline Siale Ilolahia, Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), moderated by Whitney Yip, RDI Network. Watch keynote.
• #27 Keynote: Women Leadership during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Cambodia. Sopheap Ros – Founder and Executive Director of Gender and Development Cambodia. Watch keynote.
• #38 Keynote: Climate change activism in Asia. Linh Do – Director of Leaders for Global Sustainability, University of Melbourne; Former Australia and Pacific lead for Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. Watch keynote.
• #43 Keynote: On the Ground: Partnering locally for effective, sustainable development. Mr Peter Varghese AO – Chancellor of The University of Queensland (UQ) and chair of the Asialink Council. Former Secretary of DFAT. Watch keynote.
• #68 Keynote: Research for development impact: the national interest case. Dr Cameron Hill – Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Australian Council for International Development (ACFID). Watch keynote.

Recommended viewing: 

With over 50 sessions online, some of the favourite sessions were those delivered by Asia-Pacific leaders, researchers, and practitioners. Those highlights were:

• Inclusive Research Methods. #11 Student Forum. Presented by Sumaya Saluja, The Asia Foundation Myanmar. Watch recording.
• Perspectives from Pacific Islander leaders within the COVID-shaken aid industry. #17 Day 1 panel. Speakers include: Mereani Rokotuibau, Balance of Power; Jennifer Kalpokas Doan, Balance of Power; Fremden Yanhambath, Vanuatu Skills Partnership/Balance of Power; Anna Gibert, Vanuatu Skills Partnership/Balance of Power; and Sara Webb, Duniya Consulting. Watch recording.
• Pathways through disruption for sustainable development in Malaita Solomon Islands: from colonial era massacre to tribal leadership. #46 Day 2 Panel. David MacLaren, James Cook University; Michelle Redman-MacLaren, James Cook University; Karen Cheer, James Cook University; Esau Kekeubata, Baru Conservation Alliance; Tommy Esau, Baru Conservation Alliance; Dorothy Esau, Baru Conservation Alliance. Watch recording.
• From Participation to Power: Empowering Pathways to Pacific Women’s Economic Recovery. #58 Day 2 Panel. Gabriella Marimyas, Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development PNG; Menka Goudan, Fiji Women’s Fund; Elsie Mongoru, CARE PNG; Isabelle Gurney, Pacific Women Shaping Development. Watch recording.

View all other 2021 RDI conference sessions at the RDI Network’s Youtube channel.

All 2021 RDI conference sessions available on Youtube. Download the 2021 full program here.