Governance

ASB Governance

The Global Steering Group (GSG) is a policy and decision-making body whose primary role is to provide overall governance and guidance to ASB. The GSG operates as a consultative group in determining priorities for the consortium.

Composition

North-South balance in the GSG is an important asset for ASB. It helps integrate across disciplines and interests, especially the top-down aspects of global environmental concerns and the bottom-up nature of rural development.

The GSG is made of institutions that support the objectives of ASB and accept the operating principles , including international centers, national agricultural research systems (NARS), non-governmental organizations and advanced research institutes (ARIs).

The ASB Global Steering Group at their 2007 governance meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
L-R: Claudio Carvalho (EMBRAPA), Martin Tchienkoua (IRAD), Miguel Barandiaran (INIA),
Romolo T. Aggangan (PCARRD), Doug White (CIAT-TSBF), Joyce Kasyoki (ASB-GCO),
Roberto Porro (ICRAF-AI), Meine van Noordwijk (ICRAF-SEA), Vanessa Meadu (ASB-GCO),
Jeroen Huising (TSBF-CIAT), Markku Kanninen (CIFOR), Stephan Weise (IITA),
Fahmuddin Agus (AARC/CRIFC), Peter Akong Minang (ASB-GCO), Brent Swallow (ASB-GCO)

Currently, the institutions represented on the GSG are:

National institutions:

International institutions :

Membership

GSG membership remains flexible with pragmatic criteria based on the following guidelines:

Strong interest, active participation and a demonstration of sustainable involvement in the consortium;
Implementation of ASB activities at the national and regional levels;
Contribution to thematic activities; and
Ability to contribute to core funding in different dimensions.

Representation on the GSG is based on institutions and not on individuals. That being the case, all national and regional facilitators have a seat on the GSG.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the ASB GSG include:

Approval of the annual Programme of Work and Budget presented by the ASB Coordinator.
Allocation of restricted and unrestricted funds.
Appointing the ASB Global Coordinator.

The Chair

The Chair of the GSG facilitates the governance of ASB. The Chair is elected on a 2 year basis, on rotation among the CGIAR institutions in the GSG. This was an important step in the evolution of ASB's governance.

CIFOR began a 2-year term as chair of the GSG in 2003. Until 2003, ICRAF had chaired the GSG.

CIFOR is served a second term 2006 - 2007.

ICRAF is serving a 2-year term as Chair of GSG in 2008-2009.

Meetings

The Chair convenes the GSG meetings on a regular basis and presides at these meetings. The GSG seeks decisions through consensus-building.

Whenever possible, in conjunction with a regular GSG meeting, time will be allocated to discussion of ASB science to facilitate integration and synergies across partners, places and scales of operation.

Networking: GSG meetings allow for exchange between scientists working at the different sites and globally. Site visits are normally part of these them, they often lead to breakthroughs in ASB partners' own work and help to build professional respect, trust and friendships with one another.
Evolution: GSG meetings have evolved in function: from specific project-based discussions in early years, to scientific sharing across regions, and planning global synthesis efforts under the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Observers: Observers from non-GSG institutions participate regularly in GSG, such as World Resources Institute in the early years and USAID in 2004. External voices add a much-valued outside perspective on ASB's findings, pathways for impact and relevance within the broader scientific community.

Policy guidelines

In 2004, the GSG approved the ASB Governance Policy, this includes:

Data sharing
Protocol for conducting interviews for ASB publications
Local knowledge (under development)
Authorship (under development)

The GSG approved selected ICRAF policy guidelines to complement its own ASB guidelines. These are listed below and will be adapted as necessary to reflect ASB and its work:

Research Ethics
Intellectual Property Rights
Genetic Resources (including Access and Benefit Sharing)
Alien Invasive Species