Development, Gender, Pacific

Inclusion as innovation

Linda Kelly, Director of Praxis Consultants and co-Director at the Institute, discusses the importance of including those excluded from mainstream development when thinking and working politically. Ongoing research and practice experience suggests that allowing more control and direction by those excluded from mainstream development is often the best way to ensure both innovative and effective development strategies. For example, development work has embraced the idea that … Continue reading Inclusion as innovation

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Development

Private Enterprise and the Public Good

Aidan Craney, PhD candidate at La Trobe, ponders the role of public-private partnerships and technology in international development. Recently I stumbled across an article discussing how developing country citizens may be impacted by the relationship between public-private partnerships (PPPs) and improved technology for collecting and analysing data. The article from Taylor and Broeders, In the name of Development: power, profit and the datafication of the … Continue reading Private Enterprise and the Public Good

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Culture, Development, Pacific, Research

Big problems need lots of little solutions

Aidan Craney, PhD candidate at La Trobe University, discusses some of the challenges in providing quick solutions to complex problems.  For the better part of the last six months I have been between Fiji and Solomon Islands, conducting fieldwork for my PhD. My research focuses on questions of youth livelihoods in the Pasifika region, where a youth bulge is prevalent. Roughly 20 per cent of the … Continue reading Big problems need lots of little solutions

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Aid, Development

The cost of volunteering

Aidan Craney, PhD student at La Trobe, discusses the recent cuts to the Australian Volunteers for International Development program, and the potential impact of these cuts both within Australia and overseas. Recently the Australian Red Cross announced it was ceasing its global volunteer operations under the auspice of the Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID*) program. Whilst this decision is not entirely surprising given recent … Continue reading The cost of volunteering

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Eastern Europe, LGBT

LGBT Rights activism in Eastern Europe – Part 2

George Vasilev, lecturer in Politics at La Trobe, discusses gay rights activism in Eastern Europe. Part 1 briefly looks at gay rights activism, and its impact, in different parts of Eastern Europe. Part 2 looks at the main factors that help explain the uneven rates of gay rights reform in Eastern Europe. As revealed in Part 1, the rate of LGBT reform across Eastern Europe … Continue reading LGBT Rights activism in Eastern Europe – Part 2

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Development, Eastern Europe, LGBT

LGBT Rights Activism in Eastern Europe – Part 1

George Vasilev, lecturer in Politics at La Trobe, discusses gay rights activism in Eastern Europe.  Part 1 gives a brief history of gay rights activism, and its impact, across different parts of Eastern Europe.  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) activism is a relative latecomer to Eastern Europe. While LGBT rights movements staked a place for themselves in Western democracies with the ‘new social movements’ … Continue reading LGBT Rights Activism in Eastern Europe – Part 1

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Development

Taking the Results agenda to the next level?

A new book ‘The Politics of Evidence and Results in International Development: Playing the Game to Change the Rules?’, released today, explores the history of the results agenda and its consequences for development practice, and in particular transformational change.  Chris Roche highlights some of the book’s key findings and conclusions, and discusses how we can take the results agenda to the next level.  The UK’s Independent Commission on Aid … Continue reading Taking the Results agenda to the next level?

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Development

Talk is cheap… and effective

By Aidan Craney, PhD candidate at La Trobe University I have long been an advocate for utilising qualitative research methods. Statistics and numbers are great at telling us where we are and where we’ve been for given metrics, such as education standards or community sentiment towards marriage equality. But to identify future trends and risks, I believe the best learning takes place at the margins … Continue reading Talk is cheap… and effective

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Development

‘An intellectual EuroVision contest’

DLP Research Fellow Gillian Fletcher, based at the Institute for Human Security & Social Change at La Trobe University, reflects on taking part in the Australia Awards Welcome and Farewell event in Melbourne on Monday. How can aid better support conflict-affected states (such as Afghanistan) to build locally-owned peace? How can we help to empower people and reduce poverty through programs such as the Australia … Continue reading ‘An intellectual EuroVision contest’

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