Taking the lead as a national and global higher education institution, the Development Academy of the Philippines-Graduate School of Public and Development Management (DAP-GSPDM) is strategically shaping itself as a RESEARCH HUB for Public Management Knowledge Co-Creation, engaging multi-stakeholders in knowledge-based policy, innovation, collaboration and development. Knowledge and evidence from research propel the DAP’s role as the leading national institution for capacity-building of public sector human resources and facilitator for synergy to spur change and sustainable development.

In particular, as a Research Hub, DAP-GSPDM aims to:

• Generate evidence for innovation and change to achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015-2030 in Philippine national and local contexts,
  and in regional and global contexts.
• Co-create knowledge in higher education for public management to support public sector performance in achieving sustainable development in the Philippines.
  
  

Anent to this, Republic Act No. 11465 signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on January 6, 2020,  granted DAP-GSPDM funding from the General Appropriations Act (GAA) to be utilized for its various research programs for the year 2020, thereby making the above objectives possible. The GAA funding received by
DAP-GSPDM is in support of two areas, as follows: 

1. Research on Sustainable Development Goals and Futures Thinking

2. Research Programs of the Graduate School of Public and Development Management

DAP-GSPDM Research Agenda: Public Management Research and Sustainable Development

The global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030 challenges the Philippines to achieve sustainable development within the country and its people and contribute to the global community. The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 and Ambisyon Natin 2040 embody the Philippine direction to achieve the SDGs in the country. The United Nations recognized the importance of government in achieving sustainable development through public administration that is innovative, competent, transformative and adaptive to the needs of the times. Thus, DAP stands at the forefront of the Philippine bureaucracy’s capacity enhancement to infuse knowledge and practice for sustainable development. Taking these into consideration, DAP-GSPDM developed its Research Agenda anchored on SDGs, PDP, AmBisyon Natin 2040 and the DAP/GSPDM mandates.

Research Framework

The DAP-GSPDM research framework delves into the realization of the 17 SDGs in 2030.These SDGs will guide the situational analysis of the Philippines to determine the constraints and advances relative to the global, regional, national and local goals and governance. Development as inclusive, participative, humane, ecological and sustainable informs the research initiatives. Institutional connectivity and evidence-based engagement are vital for research as co-creation of knowledge to be useful for policy and public management advocacy, for public management education and training, and other forms of capacity enhancement for government bureaucracy and the public sector and be relevant to civil society and the private sectors.   

Thematic Research Areas

As all 17 SDGs will be too broad to cover in one year, DAP-GSPDM’s thematic research areas for 2020 will focus only on the following:

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

SDG 4: Quality Education

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Research Approach and Timeframes

• Phase 1: Year 2020 – research for mapping, scoping, situational analysis

• Phase 2: Year 2021-2022 – research for functionality, practice, innovation (policy and program development)

• Phase 3: Year 2023-2024 – research for capacity-building and institution building  

Knowledge Products

DAP-GSPDM intends to produce the following: 

• Policy Briefs

• Discussion Papers

• Journal articles

• Monographs

• Working paper series

• SDG curriculum

• SDG toolkit

Capacity Building Strategies

• Round Table Discussions
  - Pool of experts on public management research will discuss and address certain issues and challenges facing the Philippine bureaucracy.
  
  
• Discourse
  - Dekalogo Public Lecture Series 

• Policy Forum
  - Research Fellows will present the policy notes/ policy briefs which are the outputs of their research.
  
  
• Conferences
  - There will be an International Conference on Public Management Research wherein sholars and practitioners will convene to vet their research studies on SDGs.
  - There will also be local conferences to cascade the results of the research conducted by the Research Fellows.
  
  
• Workshops/Writeshops

- A series of workshops/writeshops will be conducted to guide the researchers on the writing style and format, methodology and content of the research outputs.

- The workshop also intends to develop composite indicators on SDGs based on the results of the research conducted.

•    Certificate and Executive Courses

- These will provide a platform to cascade the results of the various research conducted.

- These intend to localize SDGs by involving participants from the local government units (LGUs).

• Graduate Programs

- A new curriculum on SDGs will be developed to strengthen the teaching of SDGs in higher education institutions (HEIs) based on universal pedagogy. Faculty members from various HEIs will be trained on the teaching of SDGs.

- The modules will facilitate the fusion of universal pedagogy collaboration, research and campus practices.