THE EXPERT CENTRE Areas of expertise | Institutions | Experts The Expert Centre for Sustainable Business and Development Cooperation (ECSAD) increases the knowledge of the role and functioning of international and local business in promoting economic growth and sustainable development in developing countries and countries in transition. ECSAD works for national and local governments and other public institutions, multinational firms and other enterprises, and for non-governmental organisations. It offers tailor made research, training and consultancy. The researchers and consultants from ECSAD combine a thorough knowledge of business and civil society with a sound understanding of the complicated set of problems that many developing countries are facing today. The Expert Centre is active in: a) Research; introducing a business perspective to development. The research programme combines traditional insights in business administration, management, economics, political science and sociology with new studies linking firm-specific information to macro-economic data, thus enhancing the understanding of the relation between the private sector, civil society, globalisation and sustainable development. The studies take a multidisciplinary approach and may have either a country perspective, or focus on supply chains, sectors, or specific topics such as environmental, social and health issues. b) Training and consulting; translating cutting-edge knowledge to practical solutions and new insights for management practice, business-civil society engagement, policy and business development, international cooperation and capacity-building. This applies particularly to developing countries and countries in transition, where restructuring, reform and privatisation processes require the transfer of knowledge and expertise, in close collaboration with local partners to build on indigenous experience and take into account the particular circumstances in the region/country concerned. c) Partnership building; Serving as a platform for knowledge transfer, and for exchanges between and among governments, international organisations, MNEs, SMEs, NGOs and other stakeholders from North and South, in specific projects or through e.g. workshops and conferences. This is an area in which research expertise and experience in training and consulting can be combined, thus paying attention to the opportunities of international, regional and local partnerships, but also the dilemmas and potential pitfalls involved. The already existing international network of the Expert Centre is vital in the further development of this partnership function.