Mapping to Transform National Research Systems as the Horizon of Action

The collaboration between the Global Development Network (GDN) and Expertise France (EF) as part of the Savoirs Eco project (2023– 2026), funded by the European Union, is based on the principle that supporting the ecosystem of social and economic science research cannot be provided without a detailed understanding of the research system as a whole. The global initiative Doing Research views the national research ecosystem as the scope of its work, with a view to improving interactions between researchers and public policy-makers. Tunisia is the first country in the MENA region to be included in the global initiative. The collaboration between GDN and EF demonstrates the value of investing in a detailed understanding of the research ecosystem, in Tunisia and elsewhere, in order to develop contextspecific, feasible capacitybuilding interventions that deliver a real impact.