The Asian Mega Delta Initiative, led by Bjoern Ole Sander, looks to strengthen and responsibly transform food systems in a crucial region that feeds millions of people. In alignment with CGIAR’s research strategy of “transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis”, Sander and his team work to improve agriculture and aquaculture management, scale up diversification of agri-food systems, empower women and youth, and create learning alliances in the Ganges, Mekong, and Irriwaddi deltas.
Written Progress supported their incredibly complex and urgent initiative by conducting a review of existing knowledge, managing additional research, and developing this information into a set of internal guiding documents for the team of experts tackling the initiative.
How it worked
We particularly appreciate clients who trust us to see an effort through from conceptualization to copy edit. It allows us to build a process that works for the unique needs of the client and their audience. This was one of those special projects!
First, we clarified Ole’s goals, direction, and deliverables for the initiative—and fleshed them out a bit with our own expertise in rural sustainable economic development. In particular, we identified areas of knowledge where additional research was needed.
From there, we familiarized ourselves with the region and relevant policies via a literature review. Then it was time to build our understanding of the on-the-ground experience of the people this work is ultimately intended to serve.
We immersed ourselves in interviews and workshops. Word-of-mouth interactions provide validation of desk research—as well as texture and humanity. The community stakeholders helped us appreciate the day-to-day challenges and emotions of producing food in the deltas, as well as the motives and excitement that keep people going.
With an abundance of context in hand, we began building each document layer-by-layer, requesting Ole’s approval and input during each step along the way:
- First, a document “shell”, which lays out the sequence and flow of the documents major ideas in the broadest possible terms.
- Then, a bulleted outline, which provides a concise description of the information that will be used to support each idea.
- Next, a full-text version of each document—complete with cohesive paragraphs, illustrations, references, and more.
- And finally, a copy edited, formatted version ready for publication.
These rounds of review prompted Ole to identify some significant new themes that were important to him. Rather than completely overhaul the scope of the documents, we took the opportunity to be creative and intentional with our energy and attention. It was sufficient to condense a lot of the new information in summary tables—a dynamic way of allowing readers to visit complementary themes.
At that point, the guidance documents were ready for input from the entire team. The future rounds of work on the document got a lot more granular: recommendations of highly specific additions and deletions. More “polish” than overhaul.
The resulting set of guiding documents is thorough yet concise—a multi-dimensional portrait of a multi-dimensional region, complete with important implications about how policies and initiatives can make the region, its communities, and its food output much more resilient to flooding, sea level rise, saline intrusion, cyclones, coastal inundation, and other known threats.
The work Ole and his team commissioned was for their internal use, not for public distribution. So while we can't share the resulting guidance documents here, you can learn about the amazing work they are supporting here.
Why it succeeded
Ole and his team have a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of the region’s overlapping challenges related to nutrition security, financial investment, gender equity, social inclusion, and natural resources. They also appreciated that addressing these challenges involves forging strong partnerships among a wide range of stakeholders and aligning them towards common goals—using both policy and research.
To communicate the state of the delta regions and our recommendations in a way that supports decision-making around policy, fundraising, and community-building, we had to set boundaries around each document’s scope. A completely comprehensive explanation of this complex topic and region would not have been a helpful reference to the team. And the worst fate a document can face is to never be read.
Ole trusted us to create an intentional frame. The resulting guidance documents honor his team’s needs while respecting and responding to a complex state of affairs.
What we learned
Our work on a complex set of documents for a large, diverse team highlighted two key takeaways:
If you’ve got a complex document to craft and are feeling overwhelmed by the breadth of data like Ole was, get in touch with us. As scientific researchers who can distill complex ideas while finding and filling gaps, we can help your readers access, understand, and care about the insights at the heart of your work.
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