The European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) announces the 13th edition of the prize for excellence in development research. The prize, worth €1 000, will be awarded for an essay on an issue of development studies in any field of the social sciences submitted and written by a postgraduate student from an EADI member country or attending a programme at an institutional member of the Association (see http://www.eadi.org/navigation/contact/members-of-eadi.html). Continue reading
Category Archives: General
Learning on Food Security from a regional systems perspective
The ETC Foundation is looking for a volunteer; this may well be the start of an intersting career! You can also contact our education people if you would like to do your master thesis on this topic.
F
ood Security (FS) is a hot topic in the Dutch and international development debate today. Therefore, learning about FS interventions has priority amongst organisations like ETC.
ETC is involved in a Learn-and-Work trajectory called “Learning on Food Security from a Regional Systems Perspective”. In this trajectory, two learning questions (see below) will be addressed through three case studies in different regions in East-Africa. These case studies will be 1. jointly prepared in a preparatory event, 2. then implemented by organisations in East-Africa in their respective regions, 3. analyzed jointly in an international workshop and then 4. reported and presented both within and outside ETC and partner network. Continue reading
Living the peasant way of life in Santa Cruz de la Colina
After a longer posting-pause in which I finalized my first research phase, identifying supporters of rural grassroots development initiatives in the Province of Soto, here a new update of my activities in Colombia:
Time is flying and I am finalizing my second research phase, asking grassroots development initiatives to evaluate the support they are receiving to build joint capacities. To be able to speak with rural development initiatives, I was invited to spend a week with a peasant family in the vereda St. Ana of Santa Cruz de la Colina.
Santa Cruz de la Colina, Matanza, Colombia
DERREG film Westerkwartier
Over the last 3 years, we have been carrying out research in the Westerkwartier concerning global influences on rural regional development.
The Westerkwartier, Groningen Province, The Netherlands
This research was carried out as part of the European project DERREG. The Westerkwartier was involved in two work packages of the project: 1. Investigating arrangements through which public support for joint learning and innovation is provided to development initiatives active in the region (WP4) and 2. Investigating global networking activities among rural businesses in the Westerkwartier (WP1).
In the summer and fall of this year, three film students from the University of Aberystwyth in Wales made their way around Europe to visit all case study areas and to film the present development activities. In the Westerkwartier, the film focuses on our research conducted for WP4 (joint learning and innovation). In this film, several supporters as well as the beneficiaries were interviewed. Their stories describe the development activities in the Westerkwartier very lively and give a feeling of the enthusiastic and motivated engagement of the denizens in developing their Westerkwartier. The film is available on YouTube and can be viewed here. Enjoy!
IFSA 2012 workshop ‘The meaning of semi-subsistence farming in different cultural contexts’
Together with Imre Kovach and Catherine Darrot, I will be hosting a workshop at the IFSA symposium in Aarhus, Denmark from the 1st of July until the 4th of July 2012.
The workshop is aimed at exploring the multiple meanings of semi-subsistent food production strategies in different cultural context. Two questions are at the centre of attention: 1) How has the meaning of semi-subsistent food production changed over time for producers, society and institutions? and 2) What recommendations can be derived from the research for policy makers of multi-state institutions (e.g. EU?). We invite researchers from diverse countries to present their empirical research in order to stimulate a fruitful discussion and knowledge exchange.
The deadline for submitting abstracts is the 31st of December 2011. More information and a link to submitting your abstract can be found here. I hope to see you there!
