^{20 August 2026}  

The first discussions and field trips for RISE began in 2016. Over the ensuing decade and through all of its challenges, our team has explored, learned, refined and reflected on how our unique program can not only be delivered but also serve as a beacon and example for others to follow.

Brett Davis, former Program Manager of RISE (pictured below), recently published an opinion piece encouraging greater participation of universities in development sector innovation drawing on RISE as an example.

Brett argues that universities sit in a structural gap within the development ecosystem that no other group is as well placed to fill.  Universities can play a central role in driving development innovations that improve people’s lives. They can create safe environments for experimentation, absorb and manage risk while innovations are tested and refined, and co-invest in the research and evaluation needed to generate evidence capable of shifting policy. They can also be the glue to steward locally led solutions to scale over their natural timeframes.

Universities sit in an important space between research, policy, funding, and delivery. They are able to pursue long-horizon, rigorously evaluated interventions that may be too risky, too slow, or too uncertain for any single donor or delivery organisation to underwrite alone.

Read the full article here : https://www.devex.com/news/why-universities-should-be-central-players-in-development-113078

^{Main image above: Members of the RISE team in an informal settlement in Makassar, where Monash University plays a central role in the program's nature-based, water sensitive upgrades and the randomised controlled trial.}