Partner 1: Terre des Hommes 

Our first partner for this year is Terre des Hommes Netherlands. Terre des Hommes is an international, non-profit organization that develops and implements projects designed to improve the living conditions of disadvantaged children. The mission of Terre des Hommes-Netherlands is to work for the rights of the child and for their development, without racial, political, cultural or gender-based discrimination. The Convention of the Rights of the Child is the conceptual framework guiding the projects of TDH. One of the most important beliefs of TDH is that children are the main participants in their own development, having inherent rights and vital social, economic and cultural roles. TDH helps them realize their full potential in an ever-changing world. In 2015, the TDH federation worked on 1046 development and humanitarian aid projects in 69 countries, mostly located in South-America, Africa and Asia.

The research topic for the IRSP research will be gender mainstreaming. This is a very broad term, that implies the public policy concept of assessing the different implications for men and women of any planed policy action, including legislation and programmes, in all areas and levels. Mainstreaming essentially offers a pluralistic approach that values the diversity among both men and women. The ultimate goal of gender mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality. 

​Since the Dutch government recently put gender mainstreaming high on the agenda it would be relevant for TDH to see how they can implement it into their organization. The IRSP research group will be looking into the possibilities for TDH regarding gender mainstreaming.

The researchers  

• Kristin Moppel 
  
• Meike Vedder 
• Daphne Zanting 
• Giulia de Vita 

Partner 2: ECN

ECN (Energy research Centre of the Netherlands) is an international leader in energy innovation. They do research in the field of solar power, wind energy, biomass, waste, energy efficiency, the environment and sustainable energy systems. In addition to this, they advise on policy and strategic matters as an independent party. They frequently do this in collaboration with the private sector as well as government authorities, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Their research focuses on finding innovative solutions to promote the use of sustainable energy and energy conservation.
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The policy study department of ECN is pursuing a project for the German government in which they support developing countries to transform the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) ambitions regarding the issue of climate change, which they ratified at the Conference of the Parties (COP21), into action plans. The main task of the IRSR research team is to map and analyze the existing initiatives in the context of the NDCs in order to enable ECN and the German government to identify areas which are not yet covered by initiatives and potentially provide the necessary support to meet the individual climate goals. The findings of the IRSP team will contribute to the final report of ECN on the current status of local and global climate initiatives in the wider picture of the Paris Agreement and ultimately influence future projects and funding by governments, national or international organizations. IRSP is thus taking an active stance in the global fight against climate change and provides actors in the field with qualified student researchers while offering the latter with practical experience and the opportunity to make a change.

The researchers 

• Simon Otto
• Yannik Petry 
• Karlien de Boer 
• Celine Brus 
• Kalle Kivinen