Agbonifo: How GASDI is Redefining Sustainable Development, Turning Dialogue to Action

Prof. John Agbonifo is the Director of Global Affairs and Sustainable Development Institute, Osun State University, Osogbo. In this interview with Funmi Ogundare, he explained how the institute is navigating today’s complex development landscape, bridging science and the humanities, forging global partnerships, promoting inclusive governance, and ensuring that dialogue leads to real-world impact

How is GASDI’s role evolving amid geopolitical, environmental, and socio-economic turmoil?

At a time when the world is gripped by overlapping crises, from intensifying geopolitical conflicts such as Russia-Ukraine and Iran-Israel, to worsening climate impacts and socio-economic uncertainty, the Global Affairs and Sustainable Development Institute (GASDI) of Osun State University, Osogbo, recognises the need to rethink the sustainable development agenda. As I pointed out during the recent International Sustainable Development Dialogue (ISDD), the SDGs were crafted for relatively stable global conditions. But today’s world is far from that. In this new context, the GASDI is repositioning itself not just as a think tank, but as a think-and-act tank. The Institute advocates for adaptable SDG strategies that are crisis-aware, flexible, and locally grounded. It has already begun translating insights from its conferences into public education and policy influence, through the weekly UNIOSUN Solutions Forum radio programme, media engagement, and timely policy briefs. Going forward, GASDI aims to deepen its role as a responsive, interdisciplinary hub that can help societies navigate complexity, fragility, and uncertainty.

You once advocated for bridging the gap between science and the humanities. What effort has GASDI been making to operationalise interdisciplinary collaboration for development impact?

By design, GASDI is interdisciplinary, straddling the sciences, humanities, and indigenous knowledge systems. It offers postgraduate training and conducts research in areas such as Sustainable Development Practice, Peace and Conflict Studies, Climate and Society, Indigenous Knowledge, and Migration Studies. Its academic and policy work is especially tailored to African realities, from resource-based conflicts in the Niger Delta to urban governance challenges. GASDI’s unique strength lies in weaving together local insights with global perspectives, drawing from environmental humanities, governance, science, and social justice to shape solutions that are grounded and inclusive. GASDI sees the fusion of science and humanities not as an abstract ideal, but as a practical necessity. The most pressing global challenges, climate change, inequality, and conflict, are complex and deeply rooted in both material and cultural systems. Our approach is therefore holistic. At the 2025 ISDD, themed ‘Sustainable Development in the Age of Crisis: Humanities, Science and a More Equitable World’, GASDI convened a diverse array of experts, natural scientists, humanities scholars, policymakers, and development practitioners to co-create solutions that are both evidence-based and ethically grounded.

Past ISDD events have explored ecological degradation and cultural displacement through interdisciplinary lenses, including the 2023 conference, Making and Unmaking Africa: Global Developments and Environmental Humanities, and the 2024 edition on ‘Harnessing Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Adaptation’. Beyond conferences, GASDI brings interdisciplinary knowledge to the public through the UNIOSUN Solutions Forum radio show, where complex SDG issues are explained in accessible language. We also publish peer-reviewed books and journal articles based on conference proceedings, making research outputs usable by both academics and policy actors. Our academic programmes embody interdisciplinarity. All students, regardless of discipline, take a core course in Sustainability Science. Our six postgraduate tracks merge natural sciences, governance, cultural studies, and policy training. These are supplemented by short courses and workshops designed to equip professionals with transdisciplinary, actionable skills.

GASDI has built strong international partnerships and actively engages with institutions such as the University of Warwick and the Rachel Carson Centre. How do these collaborations enhance GASDI’s impact on global issues such as climate justice, migration, and peacebuilding?

International partnerships can further enrich its reach. GASDI collaborates with globally respected institutions such as the Rachel Carson Center, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, and the University of Warwick. For instance, Prof. Anthony Kola Olusanya recently completed a research stay at Warwick, while Prof. Agbonifo represents Africa on the board of the International Consortium of Environmental History Organisations (ICEHO). These relationships strengthen GASDI’s efforts to expand joint research, fellowships, and engagement with multinational platforms on climate justice, migration, and peacebuilding. As part of its public engagement strategy, GASDI will expand its media platforms, radio, podcasts, and digital content to drive civic participation in SDG implementation. Crucially, GASDI aims to remain a convening space for national and international policy conversations, offering actionable communiqués after each conference and continuing to build bridges between scholarship and society.

In light of fragmented efforts among institutions, how do you plan to promote systemic integration and inter-ministerial collaboration in sustainable development work?

One of Nigeria’s key challenges in SDG implementation is fragmentation across sectors, ministries, and levels of government. GASDI is committed to tackling this by advocating for institutional models that promote coordination and synergy. Drawing lessons from Nigeria’s Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs), which coordinates inter-ministerial action through committees and innovation hubs, GASDI is exploring how similar structures can be promoted or supported.

How do you ensure that academic dialogues, such as ISDD, translate into actionable policies rather than just theoretical recommendations?

Nigeria’s use of tools like the Integrated SDG (iSDG) simulation model, in collaboration with UNDP, allows policymakers to evaluate trade-offs, synergies, and financing strategies across sectors. GASDI can champion the adoption of such tools, offering training to ministries and state governments, and helping institutional actors integrate systems thinking into their planning. In addition, Nigeria’s SDG Innovation hubs, which facilitate knowledge sharing and decentralised innovation, offer a promising model for collaboration. GASDI could partner with these hubs or create new state-level platforms that bring together local government, civil society, academia, and the private sector. These platforms could facilitate joint research, policy dialogue, and coordinated action.

Given Nigeria’s complex landscape of insecurity, economic inequality, and institutional fragmentation, how can GASDI’s work help the country not only meet the 2030 SDG targets but also build more resilient systems that can withstand future crises?

Nigeria’s development landscape is shaped by insecurity, economic inequality, and weak institutional capacity. To support the country in both meeting the 2030 SDG targets and preparing for future crises, GASDI is investing in adaptive and integrated approaches. We believe that sustainable development must be designed with disruption in mind. Rather than treating crises as anomalies, we embed resilience into our research, curricula, and policy advocacy. GASDI’s work promotes systems thinking linking themes like poverty, gender, health, and education in ways that challenge siloed governance and promote ethical, whole-of-society responses. Our work also emphasises hybrid knowledge integrating technology, traditional knowledge, and community practices. For example, GIS mapping and climate-smart agriculture can be blended with indigenous planning methods to address food security, infrastructure needs, and disaster risk reduction. In a country like Nigeria, where off-grid energy solutions are essential, GASDI sees huge potential in supporting solar energy training, community mini-grid projects, and local innovation for energy resilience.

How do you turn dialogue into actionable policy?

Too often, academic dialogues end as just that, talk. GASDI takes deliberate steps to bridge the gap between discussion and implementation. One approach is to pair research findings with focused policy briefs, and then convene structured forums where these are discussed with policymakers, NGOs, and community actors. This process of co-creation ensures that policies are both evidence-based and tailored to local realities. Additionally, GASDI makes strategic use of mass media to amplify findings and build consensus. From press releases to community radio to digital platforms, we translate academic knowledge into forms that can influence decision-makers and mobilise public support.

How do you ensure that marginalised voices, particularly from informal or underrepresented sectors, are included in your programming and research outputs?

In all its work, GASDI foregrounds inclusion. Our programming reflects a commitment to elevating marginalised voices, from women and youth to rural communities and informal workers. A clear example is our radio show, which regularly features Yoruba-language segments to ensure non-English-speaking audiences are not left out. We also share stories from the grassroots that showcase how ordinary people are engaging with and benefitting from sustainable development work. This storytelling approach isn’t just about representation. It is about shifting the centre of development discourse to include those who live closest to its consequences. We believe that any meaningful development agenda must be shaped with, not just for, those most affected by inequality and exclusion. In sum, GASDI is evolving into a model African institution for sustainable development: grounded in local realities, globally connected, interdisciplinary in nature, and committed to resilience, justice, and action.