Dear John Do,

Welcome to our final newsletter of the year!

2023 was a year marked by a turbulent context of various geopolitical turbulences and increasing global temperatures with all effects entailing, mainly hitting many less privileged world citizens. 

A year wherein The Broker even more felt engaged to continue its knowledge brokering expedition for a more just world. This is reflected in the results of the many activities within the Dutch platforms INCLUDE and Netherlands Food Partnership and additional activities we enrolled the last months in the fields of equal inclusive cooperation and climate actions that you can read about below. 

For The Broker it has also been a year marked by strategic planning, the evolution of our theory of change, team building, rebranding (freshly reflecting our commitment to innovation and progress -> to be introduced soon), official office move back to Amsterdam and the search for a  new executive director. Also we are proud to introduce our very experienced and engaged new board president and secretary, find their profiles below.

With the solid base we are now establishing, we find ourselves grounded and optimistic for the opportunities that lie ahead in the coming year wherein Dutch and worldwide international aid and development processes might face additional pressures.

We can't wait to reveal our new identity and mainly to continue making knowledge strides towards a more just, healthy, wealthy, safe and prosperous world  in 2024. We are wishing you a rejuvenating holiday season and a strong start to the new year!

As always, stay tuned for more, and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter!

Acknowledging Global Southern knowledge: the need for Northern capacity building 

Check out our most recent blog, where Marijke Priester, upside down global cooperation advisor, offers insights into best practices to further inform (knowledge brokering) practices towards more equitable partnering between the Global North and Global South.

Feminist Foreign Policy: Community Festival Workshop

As a part of our Feminist Foreign Policy project with Cordiad, and the Women's International Peace Centre (WIPC) two of our knowledge brokers, Rojan Bolling and Ruth van de Velde, hosted a workshop at the Feminist Foreign Policy Community Festival.

We look forward to seeing how the knowledge gained in this workshop will further contribute to our Feminist Foreign Policy project!

SouthSouthNorth: Knowledge Brokering for Advocacy 

Our Knowledge Brokers, Ruth van de Velde and Siri Lijfering facilitated a learning workshop for our project with SouthSouthNorth on knowledge brokering for advocacy where participants delved into the concept, identified key knowledge questions, and explored best practices, challenges, and knowledge gaps in advocacy strategies within the context of Voices for Just Climate Action. 

More updates to come on this project very soon!

Two new Broker board members

We have recently welcomed two new members onto our Broker board. Jolke Oppewal, our new board chair brings many years working in international development cooperation, as a journalist and a diplomat in many African countries for The Netherlands. Mirjam Ros-Tonen, our new board secretary, is a human geographer by training and recently retired from her position as an associate professor at the University of Amsterdam where she has always worked in close cooperation with professionals worldwide as a pioneer in science-practice co-creation.