A Canadian policy think tank has found a new home at Carleton as it avoids shutting its doors forever.
The North-South Institute (NSI) is a non-partisan policy research group, with a focus on international development. Carleton will now be providing both a physical space and administrative backing for the institute so some of their projects can continue.
Dane Rowlands, director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton, said the mutual focus on international development made NSI a natural fit for the university.
“I think that overlap between policy relevance and development is really what drove this to look like it might in some ways be a natural alliance to form,” Rowlands said.
Carleton already had a close relationship with NSI, as some of NPSIA’s staff and students worked on NSI projects.
“When the North-South Institute began to close down, they were finding places where those programs could continue,” Rowlands said. “We already took in some of those projects . . . and we have them here because they were relevant to what we did.”
The relationship is mutually beneficial, Rowlands said, with Carleton benefiting from the reputation of the prestigious think tank.
“The extent to which we can support NSI and in a way almost leverage its brand to increase the prominence of our own policy research and to attract other to become engaged in it,” Rowlands said.
In the long run, working with Carleton should help the institute regain funding from outside donors.
“I think that maybe some funders would look at this as being more stable now that it is embedded in a larger organization like Carleton University,” Rowlands said.
Funding cuts forced the institute to begin thinking about alternate options last September. The NSI will continue to function independently, and hopefully become renewed through Carleton’s resources, according to a Carleton press release.
“The intention is to reinvigorate NSI’s role as a hub for rigorous research and debate on key development policy questions, and to ensure that this work is communicated effectively to policy makers and leaders inside and outside government, in Canada and abroad,” the press release stated.
While the think tank is a non-partisan organization, Rowlands said there was some concern about the independence of the institute, but dismissed these worries.
“Academic research, by its nature, is also relatively independent,” Rowlands said. “The role that NSI has to play is one of co-ordinating and identifying a relevant and common research agenda for people interested in international development research.”
