| ¡®For
a Better Partnership¡¯
Ways
to Increase Awareness of the RCA in the Regional Community
A
Personal View
Dr
John F Easey
Australian
Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
1.
Introduction
Over
the past 30 years, under the aegis of the RCA, a productive
partnership has existed between the RCA Member States,
the IAEA and the UNDP, with sizeable investments in
nuclear science and technology being made in human resource
development, technology transfer and technical infrastructure.
The
RCA has recognised the maturing of its relationship
with the IAEA and the need to take on a heightened role
in the management and running of the programme.
The
RCA Member States are now investing more resources in
the programme and are assuming a greater degree of ¡°ownership¡±.
As
part of this expanded and more independent role, the
RCA National Representatives formulated and adopted
the following Vision for the next 25 years
· Security and Safety of
Food & Nutrient
To
produce cheap and nutritious food.
·
Health Care
Good
health care at affordable price for mass populations.
·
Industrial Development
To
improve economy and provide employment.
·
Energy
Fuel of the economy.
Depletion
of conventional sources.
·
Environmental Care &
Protection
Efficient
technology ensuring environmental integrity.
To
make a significant regional impact in these sectors
in fulfilment of this Vision, the RCA will need to make
concerted efforts to:
- increase
awareness in the wider regional communities of the
capabilities and capacity of the RCA to contribute
in a meaningful way to these socially important sectors,
and
- forge
productive alliances with key partners and donors
to demonstrate and reinforce the strengths of nuclear
science and technology when applied to these areas
-
emphasise
the unique strengths of the RCA.
Increasing
awareness of the RCA will not be a simple endeavour
because it is a complex entity and many outsiders have
difficulty in understanding all the facets.
The
RCA Member States will need to develop and agree a carefully
thought through awareness strategy.
This
paper offers some suggestions and highlights some issues
in the context of ¡°awareness¡± in the hope that it
will be a contribution to the further development of
an effective and productive consensus approach.
2.
Expanding the
RCA¡¯s Horizons.
While
there has been a general move to increasing general
awareness of the RCA through such measures as upgrading
the RCA Annual Report, setting up the RCA webpages and
the preparation of brochures and other information on
RCA, these have been largely ad hoc moves rather than
a part of an overall strategy.
It
is now time to shift to a more comprehensive approach
with careful consideration being given to a number of
issues, including:
-
Who
is the target audience and at what level the approach
needs to be taken - nationally, regionally or internationally?
- How
is the information going to be effectively delivered? Verbal
or written communication?
Method
of presentation - conference, seminar, workshop, TV,
radio, videotape, one-on-one presentation, specialist
journal, brochure, newspaper or magazine?
- What
are and who has the appropriate delivery skills to
make the delivery effective to the target audience?
- How
can this all be accomplished within the available
financial and human resources.
Ultimately
the effectiveness of the promotion of the RCA will depend
on the ability of the RCA to deliver efficiently and
effectively and provide the outputs, outcomes and added
value that a partner wants.
An
awareness programme will need to focus on such aspects.
Initially
the past RCA track record will be an important factor
underpinning the establishment of the RCA¡¯s credentials
but in the future, the ability of the RCA to deliver
will be under increasing scrutiny.
2.1 Changing
the RCA paradigm
There
is a common perception that the RCA is the IAEA¡¯s RCA
and not the RCA Member States¡¯ RCA.
This
is perhaps not an unreasonable conclusion for an outside
observer to make, since the majority of RCA projects
have been and are funded by the IAEA.
Additionally
the RCA Coordinator¡¯s Office is located in Vienna,
within the Technical Cooperation Department and is thus
part of the IAEA secretariat.
Over
the years some Member States and the UNDP have provided
cash contributions to support extrabudgetary projects
or individual activities within a footnote a/ component
of an IAEA project.
Quite
properly RCA projects funded by the IAEA have to conform
to their priorities to secure funding against the competition
from other project proposals and are implemented according
to the IAEA procedures, rules and regulations but such
close alignment of the RCA and the IAEA may not always
provide a mutually satisfactory relationship under all
circumstances.
One
objective for the future should be for the ownership
of the RCA¡¯s programme to be much more clearly seen
by the outside world as a product of the will of the
RCA Member States.
If
the RCA 25 year Vision is to be achieved, it will have
to be undertaken using new and emerging technologies
and with upgraded human and physical resources, all
of which will require a significant investment of additional
financial resources.
The
available pool of funding from both the IAEA and the
RCA Member States is limited and inevitably the expansion
of the extent and breadth of the RCA programme must
be concerned with seeking donor support from outside
of the IAEA and the RCA Membership and possibly outside
of the Asia Pacific region.
Currently
competition for donor funds is very high and amount
available is at best relatively static so where then
can additional funding be found to finance the RCA projects?
One
answer could be the integration of specific RCA projects
into programmes being conducted under other regional
or international arrangements.
Another
could be for the RCA to carry out revenue generating
operations for regional or international or other organisations
and use these funds to support the projects.
Within
the RCA there are some highly valued and scarce skills
and resources over and above the nuclear science and
technology skills that reside in the individual Member
States.
The
extensive RCA networking and long experience in the
organisation and implementation of a wide diversity
of events from workshops and seminars to field demonstrations
on both a regional and a national scale are such examples
and these are great assets.
Whatever
strategy or mix of strategies are devised as the means
to fund the RCA projects, it is almost certain that
they will require an underpinning programme of enhanced
awareness to demonstrate that the RCA would be an efficient
and an effective partner delivering added benefits through
nuclear science and technology.
2.2
New
RCA stakeholders
Broadly
the major RCA stakeholders over the past 30 years have
been the RCA Member States, the IAEA and the UNDP.
At
the national level most Member States have had a major
preoccupation with building up human capacity and physical
resources with in the national nuclear research institutes
(NNRIs) over most of this time.
The
recent changes in the RCA have seen the Member States
adopt a range of innovative measures such as the Lead
Country concept and Regional Resource Units, as they
adopt more responsibility for the management, design
and execution of the technical programme.
The
horizon for many of the projects has now shifted to
providing organisations outside the NNRIs with technological
solutions incorporating nuclear science and technology.
In
line with the RCA 25 year Vision, the new stakeholders
for RCA will need to be identified in the Security and
Safety of Food & Nutrient, Health Care, Energy,
Industrial Development and Environmental Care &
Protection sectors, with interests that are spread from
local and national levels up to regional and international
levels.
Awareness
strategies will need to be focussed on key players within
this complex matrix of sectors and communities.
The
needs of the existing stakeholders should not be forgotten
in this process.
In
addition the RCA has the capability to significantly
advancing the acceptance and the utilisation of nuclear
science and technology in the Asia Pacific region and
beyond.
Cooperation
with other organisations carrying out promotional activities
could produce productive partnerships and the sharing
of information and awareness materials could be mutually
beneficial.
2.3
Regional
Representation - a key to the future.
The
imminent opening of the RCA Regional Office could be
a watershed event for the RCA as it offers the potential
to be a key element in a strategy to increase awareness
and to forge productive alliances in the Asia Pacific
region and expand the influence and reputation of the
RCA and achieving the paradigm shift discussed above.
At
present the only individual recognised as the ¡°human face of the RCA¡± is
RCA Coordinator.
Because
of the yearly rotation of the position of Chair of the
RCA National Representative Meetings there is no long-term
focus on any individual as a contact point or representative.
The
establishment of the RCA Regional Office, staffed independently
from the IAEA secretariat, now offers a possibility
to promote a personalised and independent RCA image
based on the Regional Representative.
This
is especially important in our region since ¡°doing
business¡± is strongly bound up with personal contacts
and face-to-face interactions. All
of which are influential in achieving positive outcomes.
2.4
Strategic
Timing
In
trying to access new partnership opportunities for the
RCA and to become integrated into new projects, it will
be important to have a good range of appropriate awareness
materials to alert target organisations of the strengths
of RCA and the value that the RCA could bring to their
projects.
In
many cases a long lead-time has to be assumed, especially
for international organisations and good planning and
management is required.
It
will be important for the RCA, through the Regional
Representative, to have very early access and involvement
with potential partner organisations, as key parameters
are often agreed at this stage.
These
can significantly shape future outcomes and often have
far reaching consequences such as excluding or limiting
the incorporation of unforseen components.
3. Strategy for the Future.
¡°May
you live in interesting times¡±
-
traditional Chinese curse.
3.1
Awareness
Strategy
It
is taken for granted that all the scientific and technological
aspects of the RCA programme are undertaken by professionals
with specific expertise.
This
approach will also be required in the awareness strategy.
Professional
experts in promotional and awareness programme in the
RCA Member States will need to be used to assist the
technical experts in effectively achieving the desired
end results.
It
will not be possible within the reasonably available
resources to simultaneously cover all the awareness
and promotional requirements.
The
RCA Regional Office could be used to identify where
the important regional and international organisations
are in the implementation of their project cycles and
when they will start the initial planning for their
next new phases.
Nuclear
technologies appropriate to the needs of these organisations
will need to be identified as well as their utilisation
of competitive technologies.
The
Regional Office could prepare technological profiles
of target organisations to position the RCA to undertake
awareness presentations at crucial times and then in
conjunction with the Member States, have promotional
and awareness materials prepared and ready.
3.2 Expanding
the Options
The
use of nuclear science and technology throughout the
region is not optimal and there are many possibilities
for its increased utilisation.
There
are many reasons for this ranging from lack of information
on the nuclear solutions to concerns about the use of
radiation and radioisotopes.
Even
within the general science and technology communities
there does not always seem to be a strong appreciation
of the benefits of nuclear science and technology. Efforts
need to be made to correct this at both the national
and the regional level.
The
RCA National Representatives should address this issue
and consider how nuclear science and technology might
be specifically integrated into the science initiatives
of regional organisations such as APEC.
The on-going acquisition of new skills and
new technology are going to be important objectives
for the RCA in order to maintains its position as a
resource and a provider of beneficial nuclear science
and technology.
This will be an on-going requirement since
the previous investments are not durable items for the
most part.
Knowledge advances and equipment gets dated
and obsolete.
For the future the RCA should lift its horizons
to look beyond just the maintenance of its investments
in nuclear science and technology to a position where
these investments can be compounded through the introduction
of added value, for example devise an integrated packaged
solution rather than a single components.
4.
Conclusion
The
launching of an awareness campaign on the RCA should
not be an end in itself but a means to expand the RCA¡¯s
activities and achieve its 25 year Vision.
There
will need to be a clear focus on the prime aims and
objectives.
The
RCA National Representatives will be key players in
the development of the strategy to secure the required
resources for an expanded programme.
The
RCA Regional Office can play a pivotal role in the day
to day implementation of the strategy and in establishing
the ¡°RCA image¡±.
As
in the past the strength of the RCA comes from the Member
States¡¯ commitments and resolve to work together on
the peaceful application of nuclear science and technology
for the common good.
This
new phase in the life of the RCA is a major investment
for the future and will be an important seachange in
the way in which it is viewed by both the Member States
and the outside community.
|
