november 2011

During the ContextMasterClass meeting of November 24, 2011 the director of Context, international cooperation, Fons van der Velden, presented the first copy of the new Context publication ‘New approaches to development cooperation’ to Mr Meindert Witvliet, the outgoing director of SHGW.

In the Introduction of this publication Fons van der Velden argues that nowadays many individuals, organisations and institutions are involved in the search for new approaches to address issues of justice and mercy. They are looking for new strategies and forms of value based change processes in general and new forms of international solidarity in particular. One of these approaches, social business, is explored in depth in this volume. This approach aims for value creation through value chains to benefit all involved stakeholders, sustain the environment and contribute to the common good.

The book costs 30 euro's (excl. costs for sending: 3 euro's) and may be ordered by sending an email to Tamar van der Leeuw tvdl@developmenttraining.org.

Oktober 2011

Looking at leadership and management training today, often, personal leadership and self-management are missing elements. Effective leadership has less to do with organisational skills, and more with personal leadership and motivation. Personal leadership and self-management relate to knowledge and skills on a personal level, especially personal attitude, one’s purpose in life and values. For this reason, leadership and management begin at the personal level. If you desire to set up a healthy business and contribute to bringing change in society, the motto is to start with yourself.

The Leading for Change in Social Business programme is a joint collaboration of Foresee Social Entrepreneurs  and Context, international cooperation and  aims to provide high quality support to innovators, social entrepreneurs with a strong, but not exclusive focus, on women.

This programme takes place in two modules:
- December 5-9, 2011 in Anatapur, India
- In June 2012 (place and exact dates will be initimated later)

For more details and  information about this programme, please read this flyer.

April 2011

In the Vice Versa magazine of this month (#2, volume 45, 2011), an article about Civic Driven Change (CDC) called: "Hulpgedreven verandering is een mythe" (aid-driven change is a myth) is published. The article is written by Remko Berkhout (knowledge worker at Hivos), Lieke Ruijmschoot (consultant at Context, international cooperation) and Janneke Juffermans (journalist) and argues that the framework of Civic Driven Change puts NGOs for dilemmas, but also offers possibilities for a new positioning. 

This article fits in the current CDC thinking. In 2010 a group of organisations (Hivos, Cordaid, MinBuza, Social Evaluator, ISS, Broederlijk Delen and Context, international cooperation) who were all part of the DPRN (Development Policy Review Network) process organised a series of events about CDC. This resulted in a synthesis paper called "Civic Driven Change: Synthesising Implications for Policy and Practice".

January 2011

In January 2011 Context, international cooperation, together with the other partners (Hivos, the Institute of Social Studies, Cordaid, Social Evaluator, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (all in the Netherlands) and Broederlijk Delen (Belgium)) of the DPRN process ‘Civic Driven Change: implications for policy and practice’ produced a synthesis paper resulting from a writeshop organised by the partners of the process.

This paper aims to synthesise the outcomes and conclusions from the process. The aim is not to present a final analysis on CDC but to take stock and offer a building block for follow-up research. In this paper reference is made to the existing body of literature on CDC and related studies on citizen action. The writers largely drew on the events that they have organised throughout 2010 but they have also taken the liberty to include their personal and professional experience and current CDC thinking in their respective organisations.

To read the full paper, please click here.

Oktober 2010

Ms Sathyasree Goswami from Context India  together with Ms S.S. Rajani from IGSSS have conducted and compiled an Action Research on Homelessness in Bangalore City, India, called: 'Invisible City-Makers'.

The theme that runs through the report is ‘City makers who are invisible in the city’. The theme indicates the facts that, it is the people who live on the streets are the ones who contribute to the making of a city, yet remain invisible to law or society. The study is released by a homeless couple in a public meeting and is done with the help of 29 NGOs and 179 volunteers from Bangalore. A head count was done of the homeless people from 10pm to 1am continuously over two nights on the streets of Bangalore city.

To read the whole document, please click here.

Juni 2010

From May 25-27, 2010 Cecoedecon and Context, international cooperation, organised a training of trainers (ToT) workshop about Civic Driven Change (CDC) in Jaipur, India. The objective of the ToT was sharing the experiences on CDC, its Indian perspective, updates, issues and follow-up. Around 25 participants from 14 states participated in the workshop with their
rich experiences and firm background.

Please click here to read the report of the workshop. 

May 2010

On May 28, 2010, a National Consultation, on Civic Driven Change, organised by Context, international cooperation and Cecoedecon took place in Jaipur, India. This consultation placed emphasis on ordinary people developing the capacity to achieve fundamental changes through bold new programmes by bringing citizens and community to the centre-stage of development initiatives.

Please read more about this consultation in this article in The Hindu of May 29, 2010.