The Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) delivers practical, policy-oriented research on demand for international development agencies to improve outcomes in governance, conflict and social development. As a knowledge management hub, the GSDRC has developed an efficient model for rapidly locating, prioritising, summarising, and communicating relevant research and practical experience in response to specific needs.

The GSDRC’s Research Helpdesk service enables agencies to rapidly commission desk-based research tailored to specific needs. The topic guides on the GSDRC’s web site provide an overview of current debates, evidence, and thinking on a range of governance, conflict, and social development topics, linked to the document library which provides concise summaries of key publications. Larger research projects carried out by GSDRC staff can also be found on the web site.

The GSDRC is led by the University of Birmingham in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex and the firm Social Development Direct. It began operating in 2001 as the Governance Resource Centre, and has been operating under its current name since 2005. It is primarily core-funded by DFID and AusAID but carries out work for a wide range of bilateral and multilateral agencies and NGOs.

More on this resource