Launch of new £1.3 million research portfolio to explore impact of leadership on development

The University of Birmingham-led Developmental Leadership Program (DLP) has announced seven locally led research projects investigating how leadership is making a difference in the Asia-Pacific region.

DLP’s latest research will explore how leaders emerge, work together to push for change, and how this can be supported. These questions seem more relevant than ever in the context of COVID-19 and its after-shock, but they have always been at the heart of how change happens. The projects include:

• Citizen state engagement and developmental leadership, led by Dr Claire Mcloughlin at the University of Birmingham and Dr Gordon Nanau at the University of the South Pacific.
• Pathways of non-elite women into politics, led by Dr Tanya Jakimow at the Australian National University, Dr Ramona Vijeyarasa at the University of Technology Sydney, and Dr Asima Siahaan at the Universitas Sumatera Utara.
  
• Leadership at the margins of the state, led by Professor Mark Moran at the University of Queensland.
• Cultural understandings of leadership in education, led by Dr Seu’ula Johansson-Fua at the University of the South Pacific and Dr Kabini Sanga at Victoria University Wellington.
• Support for people with disabilities to lead development, led by Dr Elisabeth Jackson at La Trobe University and Ekawati Liu at Deakin University and Bandung Independent Living Center.
• Transnational Pacific leadership, led by Professor Jack Corbett at the University of Southampton, and Dr Roannie Ng Shiu and Dr George Carter at the Australian National University.
• Impact of a leadership development programme for elected officials, led by Tum Nhim at WaterSHED Asia, and Sodany Saing at WaterAid Cambodia.

The research projects will be delivered by a consortium of 18 organisations and local research teams in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Rotuma, Marshall Islands, Cambodia, and Solomon Islands.

Dr Claire Mcloughlin, Director of Research for DLP, and Professor David Hudson, Director of DLP, at the University of Birmingham commented:

“With people in places where outsiders cannot now visit, our partners are in a strong position to press ahead and explore the issues they identify as most salient for understanding leadership in their country.”

The University of Birmingham-led project, in partnership with the University of the South Pacific, seeks to explain how leadership can explain positive outlier cases of developmental change in the Solomon Islands. Dr Claire Mcloughlin at the University of Birmingham and Principal Investigator said:

“By learning about what has worked, where, and why, we aim to inform local debates about how to improve development outcomes and reduce inequalities. We hope this can generate practical insights on how local and international stakeholders can support developmental leadership, because these actors will need to continue to play a role in supporting development and building community resilience.”

DLP is an international partnership between the University of Birmingham, Australian Government Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and La Trobe University. DLP research is designed to shape the policy and practice of international development agencies and organisations with an aim to help improve livelihoods in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

• Find out more about DLP's new research projects