In recent years the role of knowledge in development has received renewed attention. People and organisations are trumpeting their knowledge ambitions, some are already talking about a hype. But has development cooperation become that knowledge intensive? I would answer yes and no. Yes, because we have seen a professionalization of international cooperation in which knowledge plays an important role. No, because we still fall short addressing many complex challenges we’re faced with. This partly has to do with the enormous complexity of international cooperation, but is partly due to a lack of substantial investments from the sector in knowledge development. The sector needs fresh ideas, new knowledge, and more specifically, to apply that knowledge to tackle particular issues.

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