Gobeshona is a new initiative being instigated by ICCCAD. It is being established in acknowledgement that much research about climate change in Bangladesh has and is being conducted both nationally and internationally. Resulting publications, however, remain widely dispersed and often unused and little acknowledged. As such, Gobeshona seeks to bring together the wide reaching research community who are investigating an array of aspects relating to climate change in Bangladesh. The initiative will help to build the capacity of researchers through helping them to establish and maintain a comprehensive knowledge base. It will attempt to catalyse the use of available knowledge and improve the quality of research outputs. Ultimately, this will increase the effectiveness of climate change research being produced both in and on Bangladesh.
Gobeshona embraces a long and continuous vision for achieving these aims. In the immediate stages, a web portal and a seminar series are being established. The web portal is to be launched next month. This will showcase existing publications and ongoing research as well as upcoming events related to climate change in Bangladesh. It is an online space that can be accessed by anyone. However, there will also be an option for membership for both institutions and individuals. Membership is free and will offer enhanced interaction on the Gobeshona platform, including options to contact and communicate with other researchers, and to submit completed publications and ongoing research. In addition, a monthly seminar series will start in April. The content of seminars will be fairly flexible. The events will seek to bring together relevant participants from a wide range of organisations to engage in critical discussions about climate change research and current issues for Bangladesh.
In the long-term, Gobeshona will aim to enhance the involvement of current researchers, particularly students, in conducting quality research and producing quality outputs for international recognition. Already a variety of organisations have expressed great interest in hosting, guiding and advising students to enable the production of improved and meaningful research. The activities already highlighted will compliment these endeavours.
The next step is to form a Steering Committee for Gobeshona. Whilst the primary target audience for Gobeshona is the academic research community, members of the Steering Committee will be representative of a range of organisations in order to encourage guidance from broad reaching perspectives. As such, private and public universities, national and international research institutes and non-governmental organisations will have a place on this committee alongside others.
This new Gobeshona community is envisaged as a timely, exciting and enticing opportunity for all interested in climate change research in Bangladesh. Stay tuned for updates on the official launch in April. For now, all related queries can be directed to Gobeshona.bd@gmail.com.
