The UNESCO Chair team hosted and facilitated a three-day planning meeting under its upcoming Knowledge for Change (K4C) initiative from Nov 11-13, 2017 at PRIA Head Office, in New Delhi. The meetings were facilitated by the UNESCO Co-Chairs, Dr Budd Hall & Dr Rajesh Tandon. Attending the meeting were K4C hub coordinators from India (Dr Manju Singh from Manipal University, Jaipur; Dr Reeta Venugopal and Dr Priyamvada Shrivastava from Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla Univeristy, Raipur; and Dr Mousumi Mukherjee from Jindal Global University, Sonepat), Indonesia (Dr Abd’ Ala from UIN Sunam Ampel University, Surabaya), Italy (Dr Andrea Vargiu from University of Sassari), South Africa (Dr Darren Brendan Lortan and Dr Savathrie Maistry from Durban University of Technology) and also the prospective coordinators from Spain (Dr Ines Cambra Marin from University of Catalonia) and Uganda (Dr Stephen Langole from Gulu University).
During the three days of the meetings, the coordinators brainstormed on the modalities of the K4C project, and the Mentor Training Program (MTP) in particular, starting from January 22, 2017. Detailed discussions also took place on the broad vision and mission of K4C, MTP modalities and role of hub coordinators in the process. This included cost implications, mentor selection and registration, supervisor selection and registration, fund raising, face to face interaction, field research component etc. The meetings help build a common understanding between all the hub-coordinators on the activities to pursue going forward from this point in time. The hubs also engaged in group discussions amongst themselves for having clarity and understanding the process better.
At the end of the three days, the group came up with a list of next steps and timelines to be followed in the next couple of months. The same has been shared electronically with all coordinators and the team as a unit, now looks forward to pursue this area of work with passion and heart.