Date/Time
Date(s) - 14/04/2016 - 25/04/2016
12:00 am
Location
Hyderabad, Raipur, Jaipur
Categories No Categories
FESTIVAL OF LEARNING
April, 2016
India
Preface
The ideas and ideals of the UNESCO Chair in Community Based Research & Social Responsibility in Higher Education, is based on the principle of ‘helping build such knowledge which recognizes the value of linking community based knowledge with academic knowledge’, in establishing what is known as ‘knowledge democracy’. The importance of Community Based Research (CBR) as a methodological tool and values based approach for helping the process of co-creation of knowledge is uncontested. Therefore, in an attempt to achieve its broad objectives, the Chair undertook a two year project titled as ‘Training the Next Generation of Community Based Researchers (NextGen)’, sponsored by SSHRC Canada. It has focused on mapping current demand and supply of CBR training internationally, especially in the global south. Several learning products are being prepared on the basis of its findings—a book with theoretical and empirical chapters, a manual as a guide for pedagogy in training in CBR for next generation of practitioners, and an emerging consortium of providers of such training.
With this background, the UNESCO Chair is organizing a ‘Festival of Learning’, spread across four states and in collaboration with respective higher educational institutions, civil society and the policy sector. This festival marks the culmination of the ‘NextGen’ project, and will help build an environment which facilitates the process of ‘learning CBR’ and having in place suitable mechanisms for training in the same. As part of the festival, the Chair will organize state-based workshops and seminars on the importance of ‘learning CBR’, and will also facilitate workshops aimed at the same. Further, the chair intends to build on this initiative and provide students with CBR based research ideas which they can continue pursuing in the upcoming months, and which can then be followed up via a seminar meeting later this year.
The 12th Plan in India included emphasis on social responsibility in higher education, and UGC has since started a scheme for setting up Centres of Social Responsibility in selected universities. An integral part of such Centres is building capacity in universities for training and practice of CBR. The Festival of Learning is expected to help achieve this, by facilitating the process of building capacities across various universities.
Participating in the ‘Festival of Learning’ will be Dr Budd Hall, UNESCO Co-Chair & Professor, University of Victoria, Canada, Dr Darlene Clover, Professor, University of Victoria, Walter Lepore, Project Coordinator, UNESCO Chair; Dr Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA & UNESCO Co-Chair; and Dr Takayoshi Kusago, Professor, Kansai University, Japan.
Broadly, the purpose of organizing this festival is four-fold:
- To disseminate findings of the global study on curriculum and pedagogy of CBR
- To provide opportunities for different faculties and students to share and discuss various good practices in designing curriculum and teaching of CBR
- To support various universities, colleges and civil society research and training organizations to include such training in their own
- To enhance visibility of relevance and capacity for CBR as an integral element in deepening social responsibility of higher education institutions (HEIs) in India
Design
The Festival of Learning (FOL) will be a series of day-long events in three different locations in the country, in partnership with local HEIs, civil society and the policy sector. Hyderabad, Raipur, Jaipur and Delhi have been chosen for FOL activities. The chair intends to develop a multi-modal, multi-media and multi-stakeholder design for the day-long FOL where emerging lessons from the global study and local experiences of civil society and HEIs are shared in an interactive manner. Students, faculty, community (civil society) leaders, local government officials and media will be key interlocutors during the FOL.
Reportage
A multi- media e-book will be produced that captures stories and examples from local practice and global findings.
Program outline
Hyderabad, Telangana
April 18, 2016 (10 AM -4:30 PM): Workshop on ‘Learning to do Community Based Research: Perspectives, Opportunities & Ways Forward’, in collaboration with Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad; and WaterAid India
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Raipur, Chhattisgarh
April 20 – 23, 2016: Workshop on “Capacity Building in Community Based Participatory Research”, in association with Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla University, Raipur; State Planning Commission, Chhattisgarh and WaterAid India
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Jaipur, Rajasthan
April 22, 2016: Dialogue on “Knowledge Democracy & Ethics: Implications for Media Professionals & Educators”; by Dr Budd Hall & Dr Rajesh Tandon & a talk on “Women’s Empowerment Globally: Re-educating Boys & Men”, by Dr Darlene Clover, at the All India Media Educators Conference on Media Ethics & Responsibility: Need for introspection, Amity University, Jaipur
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New Delhi
April 25, 2016:
- 10 AM – 1 PM: Dialogue with Indian Policy-makers, at the Association of Indian Universities (AIU)
- 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Seminar on ‘Opportunities in Community Based Research’, at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), University of Delhi
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