Safeguarding Knowledge Production

Formed in 2022, the Safeguarding Knowledge Production in the Arab region (SKP) Working Group is concerned with how researchers work in difficult conditions shaped by political instability, conflict and restrictions on academic freedom. Some of the questions the working group hopes to address are: How do these conditions affect the research process in all its stages, from planning to data collection to analysis to publication and dissemination? Where and how does silencing happen around critical challenges facing the region ? And what can we as organizations and individuals do to safeguard knowledge and develop  safe spaces and practices that enhance the creation of critical knowledge and nurture environments that are conducive to learning, exchange and dialogue? How can we protect researchers and research participants who collaborate together in the process of knowledge production? Composed of six researchers representing different disciplines and countries. the SKP Working Group seeks to diagnose the contexts of knowledge production in the region by focusing on the three themes of gender and sexuality, pandemic preparedness and response, and environmental risks/climate change.