There is a lot of repetition in my notes from the Science w/o Borders visit. That is because people are saying many of the same things. It seems that the consensus is that the best way to build connections is through faculty exchanges and relationships. There seems to be consensus that one of the best ways to do this is to work on joint research projects where both sides contribute and both sides benefit. One of the ways to get this ball rolling is to hold workshops where potential participants can get to know each other and who has what expertise. Finally, there seems to be a consensus that this system of relationships takes time to construct. It is robust, but decentralized and grows organically. We (outsiders) can help fertilize this process, but we cannot really rush it.
Anyway, my plan is to write notes about what I hear, try to treat each one like the first time. I understand that that many of the reports will look like many others. Instead of being a problem, I see this as a confirmation that we are onto the right ideas. Consensus is not always the way to go. We all like to imagine that the few mavericks have it right and everybody else is wong. Experience indicates, however, that this is usually not true.