Week 2 Reflection
In Week 2, I began moving from the initial scoping stage of the project towards more focused research into the practical barriers to cross-border connectivity in Africa. I continued examining existing transport and infrastructure policies, with particular attention to the role of regional cooperation in facilitating movement between states. Alongside this research, I worked more closely with my fcolleagues, which helped me develop a much clearer understanding of how the organisation approaches research and how academic findings can be translated into useful policy and advocacy work.
Collaboration with my team was particularly valuable this week. Discussing my initial research and ideas with colleagues allowed me to identify areas where my understanding was still too broad and helped me narrow down the questions I wanted to investigate. They were able to provide perspectives that I would not have gained from desk-based research alone, particularly regarding the political and practical realities of implementing cross-border policies. This also challenged me to be more open to changing the direction of my research when new information suggested that a different approach would be more useful. I began to understand that effective teamwork was not simply about dividing tasks between people, but about actively using the different knowledge and experiences within the team to improve the quality of the overall project.
One of the challenges I encountered this week was dealing with the sheer breadth of the topic. Cross-border infrastructure and transport covers an enormous range of issues, from roads and railways to aviation, border controls, trade and regional regulation. Initially, I found it difficult to determine where my research could make the most meaningful contribution. Discussions with my colleagues helped me recognise that I did not need to address every aspect of African connectivity. Instead, I needed to identify specific areas where policy coordination could have a meaningful impact on regional interdependence. Learning to narrow the scope of the project was an important part of my development this week.
A particularly valuable experience was having the opportunity to attend a trade conference focused on air transport. This provided a useful practical perspective on an area that I had primarily been approaching through policy documents and secondary research. Listening to discussions between people involved in the sector helped me understand how issues such as connectivity, regulation, infrastructure and cooperation between states interact in practice. It also gave me the opportunity to hear directly from people working within the industry about the challenges facing cross-border air transport. This was particularly relevant to my project because air transport demonstrates how physical connectivity alone is insufficient; effective regional integration also requires coordinated policies and regulatory frameworks between countries.
The conference also reinforced the importance of engaging with practitioners and stakeholders rather than relying exclusively on academic research. Some of the issues raised during the discussions were more nuanced than they appeared in the policy literature, and hearing different perspectives helped me think more critically about the assumptions underlying my research. It has encouraged me to approach the interviews I will conduct later in the project with greater openness and to focus on understanding the experiences and priorities of the people I am speaking to.
Overall, Week 2 helped me develop both my research and collaborative skills. Working with my colleagues taught me the value of seeking feedback and being willing to adapt my approach, while the trade conference gave me a practical perspective on the challenges of cross-border transport. The main lesson I took from the week was that meaningful policy research requires a combination of rigorous desk-based analysis, collaboration and engagement with people who understand these issues in practice. These experiences have given me a stronger foundation for beginning more focused research and local engagement in the following weeks.