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Calendar Hivos Knowledge Programme

Hivos Knowledge Programme Dialogue

Knowledge&Change

Date: 29 September 2010 until 2 October 2010
Time: 9.00 until 18.00 hour
Location: Museum for Communication, The Hague


Additional tags: Knowledge development, knowledge management

Over the last four years, Hivos together with its academic and civil society partners has explored the potential of academic-practitioner collaboration in five thematic knowledge programmes. This dialogue is organized to contribute to the debate on knowledge and change by sharing and discussing some of the emerging insights from our experiences.


Knowledge & Change: Theory and practice of development dilemmas

Hivos Knowledge Programme Dialogue

The Hague, 29 September - 1 October 2010

The developmental challenges facing the world are daunting. Extreme poverty and social exclusion persist at scale. Socio-economic inequality and fundamentalism are on the increase, exacerbated by the adverse effects of climate change and the global crises of food, fuel and finance. In the rapidly changing global socio-political landscape, the development sector is struggling to live up to its own ambitions and public expectations. Being often caught between orthodoxies and fashions, it is not able to address persistent dilemmas the sector is faced with. Are civil society organizations agents of change or are they reproducing the status-quo? Are smallholders a relic or tomorrow’s economic actors? Are clashes of internal and external agenda's in development (various players, institutions, geographies) resolvable?

New perspectives and new knowledge on the changing terrain and dynamics of development and social change are needed. Through a rethink of both practice and theory, guided by rigorous learning processes, a clear understanding of the greatly varying circumstances on the ground and fed by insights of different academic disciplines we can start getting our head around these dilemmas.

Recent reports by multilateral organisations, donors and ministries (such as the report of the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) confirm the need for knowledge intensification of the development sector. However huge gaps between the expressed need for knowledge for development and knowledge that empowers change in practice remain.

Over the last four years, Hivos together with its academic and civil society partners has explored the potential of academic-practitioner collaboration in five thematic knowledge programmes. This conference is organized to contribute to the debate on knowledge and change by sharing and discussing some of the emerging insights from our experiences.

At the conference we aim to both reflect on theory and practice of development dilemmas as well as methodologies of knowledge development. Three key questions that we think can trigger responses to various persistent dilemmas are: Who are the new actors that matter in contemporary social change? How are people engaging with new power structures and powerful external agendas? How can knowledge lead to change?

We have invited practitioners and scholars from all continents. Are you a critical thinker and/or a change agent, do you share our rationale, then please submit your ideas to join forces!

Information:

Josine Stremmelaar, Coordinator Knowledge Programme, Hivos. Email: dialogue@hivos.net,

Conference website click here.

Registration:

Please note that due to limitations of space, participation in the Dialogue is restricted. So please register at: http://www.hoezo.congrezzo.nl/hivoskpc/observer

About us:

We are academics and practitioners who aim to rethink approaches to dilemmas in the area of development and social change and put them into practice. Our platform consists of:


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