Beyond Financial Survival: Knowledge, Media, and Institutional Leverage in Changing Times.

Date: 05 March 2026
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Platform: Zoom. Kindly register and submit your questions to panelists via this link. 

Independent research centres and alternative media platforms are operating in a period of structural transition. Funding environments are tightening, donor priorities are shifting, and expectations around visibility, speed, and measurable impact are intensifying. In this context, knowledge production cannot be treated as a standalone academic exercise. It is closely tied to questions of sustainability, positioning, and institutional resilience.

This session will explore how these actors are adapting to these shifts by making deliberate decisions about strategic priorities and the allocation of limited resources in ways that safeguard credibility and continuity. It will also address the operational dilemmas that accompany a changing funding landscape, including how to diversify resources without compromising mission, what alternative models are emerging, and how to maintain intellectual rigor under financial constraint.

Grounded in institutional practice, the webinar will focus on lessons learned rather than abstract prescriptions. It aims to open a candid conversation about how independent centres can sustain both intellectual integrity and cross-sector relevance while adapting to evolving funding realities.

With interventions from: 

- Alia Ibrahim (Co-Founder and CEO, Daraj.com)

- Abir Saksouk (Co-Director and Head of Research Department, Public Works Studio)

- Makram Ouaiss (Executive Director, Lebanese Center for Policy Studies LCPS)

The webinar will be moderated by Sobhieh Najjar (CeSSRA’s Communication Manager).