News
From love declarations to relationships
The sector needs to become more knowledge intensive and more collaborative if it is to make a difference. In particular, cooperation across the different domains of academia, policy and practice is increasingly acknowledged as crucial to comprehending the complexity of development and intervening effectively. So in recent years many mutual declarations of love have been voiced, but is the knowledge landscape of development really changing?
Column by Shobha Raghuram - Valuing Development Knowledges
Knowledges about development present to the publics unique multidimensional theories and narratives about the struggles of people world over to attain social justice, to set right the inequalities, and, resolve the contradictions that beset our lives. These knowledges underscore the inseparability of precepts and practices. Foundational issues are being raised by Paul Hoebink and Alan Fowler about development work, development aid and the politics of being faithful to one’s mission. I contin...A concise guide to the basics
The world is not working well. For more and more people, life is unfair and insecure. In fact, for years now the global future has looked less rather than more politically certain, financially stable and ecologically viable. CDC introduces novel ideas about citizen efforts that can turn this alarming reality around.
Column by Alan Fowler: Aided development is a language industry
Aided development is a language industry. This opening sentence draws on the important messages to be found in Paul Hoebink’s column for the previous Newsletter. It does so from a novel and challenging way of looking at development cooperation which is emerging from the civic driven change (CDC) initiative hosted by the Institute of Social Studies. Read the column here.
Thoughts on Dutch Development Cooperation
Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 16 April, 15.45 Inaugural Lecture by Paul Hoebink at Radboud University Nijmegen. He holds a special professorial chair in Development Cooperation, instituted by HIVOS and Oxfam Novib (www.oxfamnovib.org), at the Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen (CIDIN) at the Radboud University Nijmegen. For details see the CIDIN Website.Alternative frameworks for research and teaching
The Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS) offers a fellowship awarded by SEPHIS to a student from any country in the South to spend one academic year in Bangalore, India, beginning July 2009. The main purpose of the fellowship programme is to help develop alternative frameworks for research and teaching as well as new theoretical paradigms that take into account the specific experiences of non-Western societies. Complete applications must reach CSCS by March 21, 2009Protecting Indigenous Knowledge in South Africa
In the study 'Protecting Indigenous Knowledge in South Africa', Lidewyde Berckmoes explores the possible role of Intellectual Property Rights in realising an environment conducive for the creation, sharing and use of Indigenous Knowledge for development. The study focussed on different stakeholder positions in the heated but immobile IK and IPR debate. In this study, a solution for the impasse is sought by lookingat IK and IPR through the lens of innovation systems. The study was carried ou...
Innovation in Development Cooperation
The financial crisis clearly shows the need for innovations. On 14 November the Social TRade Organisation, STRO, organized a conference Innovation in Development Cooperation. At the conference representatives from the financial sector (bank representatives from ING, Rabobank and Oikocredit) together with development experts from PSO, Flying Doctors and Hivos discussed the need for, possibilities of and problems with innovations. It was concluded that the development sector could learn from...