The CSC was delighted to welcome a select group of Commonwealth PhD and Split-Site Scholars to its residential workshop on Maximising Your Impact: Training for Development at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor from the 2-4 June 2023.
This was the second residential workshop of 2023 and formed part of the CSC’s Leaders in Sustainable Development programme, a year-round suite of online and face-to-face training for Commonwealth Scholars designed to equip them with the skills to achieve development impact after their scholarship.
At the workshop, Scholars were joined by staff from the CSC Secretariat as well as the Chair of the CSC, Professor Robin Mason for an engaging weekend of discussions on the impact potential of their PhD research.
Sunshine and sustainable development
Throughout the weekend, Scholars enjoyed a range of sessions led by the expert trainers from AccessEd on integrating the SDGs into research, strengthening public engagement, maximising leadership, and communicating development impact. These sessions were highly interactive and shaped in a large part by Scholars’ own research interests and experience.
On the final day of the workshop, development finance professional David Crush delivered a presentation on development finance institutions and the career opportunities available in multilateral development banks. With his experience at the World Bank and as a member of the CSC’s Audit and Risk Management committee, David’s insights were particularly useful to Scholars looking to apply their research skills and specialist knowledge outside of academia.
Aside from the main sessions, Scholars took part in several group activities on how to pitch their research to a non-academic audience and implement their findings for sustainable development impact. With the sun shining for much of the weekend, Scholars also made the most of the good weather by exploring the scenery of Windsor Great Park.
Reflections on the workshop
After the workshop, Scholars shared some of their thoughts and reflections on the weekend and its relevance for their future ambitions.
“I enjoyed the huge and diverse set of researches going on in the field of sustainable living and how people are looking forward to implementing them in their countries. I loved the fact that we formed bonds and friendships from different parts of the globe which are going to stay with us forever.”
“The event was very useful because it allowed me to receive feedback on my research from different Scholars who have diverse backgrounds. It put my research into perspective and allowed me to think of ways of communicating it to different stakeholders.”
Take a look at the photos from the weekend on the CSC Flickr channel.
