Meeting of the MINDS!

I was almost as thrilled about being allowed out on the patio
on a beautiful fall day* as I was that the CDSN team
rocked the event.  Sherry, Melissa, Racheal, Ryan, and
Mourad (Jae should have been in the picture) not only
did all of the hard work to make the event happen, but
shared the lessons they learned in our years of
partnership/networking.  This event competes with
our Summer Institute for one of my favorite events.

This week, we, the Canadian Defence and Security Network, held a conference at NPSIA: the Meeting of the MINDS.  We brought together representatives (project directors, project coordinators, graduate students) from the nine networks that DND funds and folks from DND's Policy directorate.  The idea was to foster more connections in both directions.  The networks need to learn from each other not just what each one is doing but what lessons they have accrued so that all of us can do better.  Given what we do--assess policy and make policy recommendations, we felt all of us meeting the policy shop at DND might foster an improved exchange of research ideas and priorities and findings. .

The entire event was covered by Chatham House Rule, so I can only attribute what I said.  What I can say about the other folks is that we got a great crowd from DND and not just from the policy shop as the folks from the Chief of Professional Conduct and Culture and from the Public Affairs branch also turned out in significant numbers.  The morning sessions involved parallel roundtables, each one having the directors (or their representatives) discussing briefly their biggest finding to date, their greatest challenge thus far, and their next major step.  The idea was to start the conversation, and it worked quite well.

These sessions were moderated by individuals in DND with related expertise/interest.  So, we combined the three tech networks--Canadian Network on Information and Security [CANIS], Triple Helix and Space Security Network--and DND found someone from the relevant Defence Policy office; the Transforming Military Cultures network was joined by the one focused on Military Sexual Trauma; Women, Peace, and Security was paired with the Network for Strategic Analysis; and the CDSN was on the same roundtable with the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network as we both focus on domestic stuff (among the CDSN's themes is one on Domestic operations).  

For lunch, each of the networks got a table or two, and the DND people were assigned to the networks that were of greatest interest to them.  This prevented the middle school dance thing of boys on one side, girls on the other dynamic that might have happened with DND folks just hanging together and the academics on the other side of the room.  Forced network is, well, more networking.

DM Bill Matthews

After lunch, Deputy Minister of Defence Bill Matthews spoke for a few minutes, and then we had a Q&A for the rest of the hour.   I can't say what he said or what folks asked, but I can say that JC Boucher and I had a fun argument in front of everyone about strategic communications.  Once again, I voyaged beyond my area of expertise, which surprised no one at all.  The next session had a similar talk and Q&A kind of engagement with a senior defence official about what the Policy Directorate does, what its priorities are, and how it is thinking about engaging us shaggy academics.   We then split into smaller groups to have more folks involved in the discussions.  I will say that all of these conversations were in the shadow of anticipated budget cuts, with the academics most concerned about the future of the low hanging fruit that is the MINDS program.  

After a networking reception Friday night, the academics reconvened on Saturday with a few MINDS folks stopping by.  The second day alternated roundtables of project coordinators and panels of graduate students. The former discussed the lessons they have learned network budgeting, accounting, reporting, and event planning, and the latter presented sharp research projects that ranged from Planetary Security (I learned 2029 will be a fun year for re-watching Armageddon and Deep Impact) to the legacy of moral injury experienced by the children of military folks to climate change impacting the Women, Peace, and Security effort to artisanal mining to the benefits of nuclear weapons (?!) to NATO cyber security.  While the students were most impressive, it was most fun to see the behind the scenes folks have the mic for a change.

The last panel was a conversation among the Project Directors about lessons learned, challenges we faced, strategies for getting things through various bureaucracies, and whether/how to do this kind of thing again.  Running these networks is a lot of work, but it is much easier when one can invoke this song: