Consultancy

I am currently available for short or long-term assignments and have broad expertise in the following fields:

  • Higher education and research strategy and management;
  • Innovation systems;
  • Natural resource management;
  • Monitoring, evaluation and learning;
  • Project, design, management and appraisal.

Current Curriculum vitae

Contact: p.vangardingen@pvgglobal.uk

I have completed a diverse set of professional consultancy assignments in many developing countries. A brief summary of these is provided below with links to further information where this is currently available.

  • Indonesian Tropical Forestry Management Programme (ITMP)
    UK Department for International Development
    -Leading the research project for the ITFMP from 1991 through 2001;
    – Research on forest yield management;
    – Contributing to evidence-bases revisions of policy for sustainable forest management in Indonesia;
    – Training;
  • Berau Forest Management Programme
    Indonesia, European Commission
    – Growth and yield studies;
    – Contributing to evidence-bases revisions of policy for sustainable forest management in Indonesia
  • Forest management in Guyana, Ghana, Brazil and French Guiana
    Department for International Development
    – Building on DFID funded work in Indonesia, including the application of modelling techniques developed under the DFID Forestry Research Programme (SYMFOR)
  • Enhancing the contribution of the environment to poverty reduction in East Africa
    Department for International Development
    – Reporting on options to enhance the representation of environmental management in national Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers;
  • African Union. Consolidated Plan of Action for Science and technology
    Department for International Development
    – Supporting the African Union, New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the African Ministerial Council for Science and Technology to develop implementation plans for AU science and technology activities.
    – Key publication: International Experience on Regional Programmes for Science and Technology: Lessons for Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action.;
  • Science, Technology and Innovation for Results (Rwanda)
    Department for International Development
    – Working with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Rwanda to design the process to launch a new science and innovation framework in Rwanda.
    – Summary Presentation.
    – This work contributed to major reforms in science and higher education in Rwanda, including the establishment of the University of Rwanda and national research and innovation funding structures.
  • Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
    Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
    Department for International Development
    European Commission
    Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.
    – A large number of assignments for different funders. The largest number where for Defra’s Darwin Initiative where I contributed to the designed of the system that is still in use today.
    – A good example of this work is the Darwin review on their research portfolio on islands.