Reflections on the 'Ethics of Sustainable Prosperity for All' Symposium

The three day symposium on ‘Ethics of Sustainable Prosperity for All’ held at the Magdalene College in Cambridge from the 11th to the 13th of September 2018 turned out to be an engaging, rich and intellectually stimulating forum to deliberate and discuss the implementation of the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, 2016. Participants from England, Ethiopia, Kenya (myself) South Africa, Sweden, Sydney, the USA, Wales, WWF, and the World Bank spent the three days interrogating specific concerns related to sustainable development so as to practically inform the implementation of the Act. Panel presentations unpacked the parameters within which sustainable development was to be planned for within the health, education, security, environment and digitalization sectors. Discussions centered around the role of the state in ensuring ethics, justice and equality towards progress in sustainable development in Wales and around the world. The First Future Generations Commissioner for Wales was also present and gave an overview of her role towards working tirelessly to ensure that all local authorities and public bodies within Wales apply the Seven Well Being Goals (see below) he Act towards achieving sustainable development. An excellent practical step by step approach to implementing the SDGs is outlined in the Act.

I had the wonderful opportunity to engage with Sophie Howe (pictured below - right), the First Future Generations Commissioner for Wales appointed under the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, 2016 - It was a privilege to meet this Wonder Woman and discuss with her how to better enforce the Act and streamline accountability procedures. We also discussed how Kenya can benefit from drawing lessons from the Welsh Act in taking Article 10 of the Constitution on sustainable development a step further. Importantly, on aspects of governance I made mention of how the Council of Governors established by the Kenyan government to streamline policy planning and law making across the 47 devolved counties in Kenya could provide a good example for Wales in setting up a similar body at the national level to engage the local authorities in a systematic and uniform manner in implementing the Act holistically across Wales.

Further details and video clips from various participants including myself reflecting on the symposium is available at: https://www.learnedsociety.wales/2018-international-symposium/ 

What is a PhD? From the Horse’s Mouth.

https://www.slideshare.net/LyllaLatif/phd-what-is-it-all-about

A PhD is NOT about finding a gap. 
A cliché that you all might have heard is that PhDs are for filling in gaps. Gaps can be filled in quick. While you are spending 3 years researching on your gap, someone, somewhere will publish on it, a law will be passed or a policy made. Gaps are not unique.

It is your approach to responding to a gap that is unique. 
The approach that you take is what will make your PhD original. Your approach could be using a theory, a method or a particular concept. Your originality could be linking together 2 schools of thought on an issue or linking schools of thought from different fields to answer a contemporary problem. A gap filling PhD is dangerous.

A PhD should be an inquiry into something or an examination of something. 
It could be an inquiry into a theory maybe to test its applicability in an area you have identified as researchable or into a previous study whose findings you want to test in a different context. It could be an examination of various methods of research or it could be applying a normative framework from another field into your research in a different field, making it multi/interdisciplinary.

The originality of your PhD should lie both in its content and process. 
How you write and how you present your arguments and content matter.

A PhD should acknowledge what is currently there.
A PhD should build on or make mention of previous studies and the scholarly input of academics in your research area, before you start positing the substance of your original arguments or position.

A PhD demands persistence and patience. 
You will spend late nights and clock all day when writing. You may question the truth of this in first year. Trust me, second year will demand a lot of persistence and patience from you. You will require reflection time. You will have long reading hours. You will write and re-write and re-re-rewrite drafts. This phase will demand the best of you. Persistence will keep you focused and bring clarity to your writing. Patience will give you strength of mind and keep you strategic.

A PhD is not that difficult.
You are not figuring out how to create a galaxy. You are only aiming to answer one research question. You just have to figure out how to get to this answer.

A PhD is you telling a story.
Not just any story. An academic story or a scientific story. Stories take time. Jot down outlines of the arguments you want to push forward, the articles you want to critic, the theory you want to adopt. Don’t sit and stare at an empty page – the PhD will not write itself. You must.

A PhD is a reflection of you. 
It is your effort. It is the labour you put into it. Invest your time in completing your PhD. It only requires you putting across your ideas into a well thought out, well researched academic document.

Have fun telling your stories,
Lyla Latif