Invitation to apply for a Peace Research Capacity-Building Workshop

Invitation to apply for a Peace Research Capacity-Building Workshop
Dakar, Senegal, 23- 26 October 2005
Deadline for nominees’ letters of application: 4 September 2005

The University for Peace (UPEACE) affiliated with the UN, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, the American University Center for Global Peace in Washington, D.C., the South-North Centre for Peacebuilding and Development are pleased to invite interested institutions or organizations to nominate a representative to submit an application to attend a forthcoming Research Capacity-Building Workshop. The workshop, sponsored by the four partners noted, will be held under the auspices of CODESRIA, in Dakar, Senegal from 23 - 26 October 2005. Only proposals submitted by people who have been nominated by their institutions or organizations will be considered.

PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP
Policy-related research is critically needed both in Africa and internationally that arises from and speaks to the particularities, needs, aspirations, and insights of persons working towards on peace in Africa. A research workshop has been planned to bring together African academicians for an intensive three-day workshop, to share and improve research methodologies for this broad purpose. Since a problem-solving dimension is central, the participating instructors, researchers, and scholars are invited to bring examples of particular research quandaries or predicaments, and practical examples and stories of how they have sought to resolve them. The research workshop is designed collectively by the four partners to identify research-methodology challenges and to share lessons and recommendations for overcoming them. Highly interactive and participative, emphasis will be placed on building human and institutional collaborative research facilities among an incipient knowledge network in Africa. Topical research questions will be confronted, for example, new developments in conducting research on root causes of acute conflict, gender and building peace, environmental degradation as a cause of strife, and non-violent transformation of conflict. Such themes are viewed as indicative under the broad umbrella of policy-relevant and action-oriented peace research in Africa.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES
Participants will:
1. Be exposed to methodologies for developing research skills and conceptual capacity for building peace and sustainable development.
2. Gain insight into new, cutting-edge developments in policy-relevant and action-oriented peace research.
3. Learn how to tackle methodological challenges, such as developing interdisciplinary approaches and conducting rigorous interviews.
4. Be exposed to different epistemological orientations. They will be challenged to understand the role of values and judgements from different perspectives and how this applies to different methodologies.
5. Gain insight into the importance of linking research with policy and practice. They will be encouraged to consider how they can structure and sustain collaborative research facilities.
6. Learn the art of preparing articles for publication in academic journals and how to handle the news media to communicate their findings with policy implications.
7. Return to their institutions able to strengthen their capacity in peace-oriented research as it is linked to sustainable development.
8. Become more aware of ethical issues that arise in peace research, for example, confidentiality and the need for professional research that strives for objectivity and promotes open debate of different perspectives.

PARTICIPANT PRESENTATIONS

Participants will give a 3-5 minute presentation on a lessons they have learned and predicaments they face in undertaking and applying research in peace building and development. The initial presentations by participants will take the group deep into the everyday problems faced by African researchers. Presentations may highlight issues including: documenting peace-building innovations in a particular locality and applying lessons to other cases; research methodologies for examining the relationships between development and peace; improving integrated applications; research approaches to encouraging critical thinking among students; research breakthroughs in understanding the links between gender and peace, improving the historiography of non-violent struggles in Africa; endogenous methods and traditional knowledge on peace building and sustainable development; and borrowing from feminist research methodologies to incorporate excluded voices and sectors.

NOMINEES’ LETTER OF APPLICATION: DEADLINE 4 SEPTEMBER 2005

In nominating a representative from your institution to apply, the individual is requested to send us a recent biographical description of himself or herself (not a CV) containing information on academic and professional qualifications, and to write a formal Letter of Application to:

CODESRIA
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop x
Canal IV, BP 3304
Dakar 18524, Senegal
Telephone: +221 825 98 22/23
Fax: +221 824 12 89
E-mail: [email protected]

Letters of application will be entertained from any nominated African academician, instructor, researcher, or scholar who is currently teaching subjects with a research component, or individuals who will in the next term begin teaching peace-related subject matter with a research dimension. Instructors in quantitative and qualitative analysis with a particular interest in incorporating peace research into their ongoing work are particularly encouraged to apply. We especially seek academicians who are already conducting policy discussions related to peace with parliamentarians and policy makers to apply. Practitioners (as opposed to academicians) who are working in areas closely related to the research questions noted here are sought. Thus, in addition to lecturers, instructors, professors, and scholars, members of NGOs and peace research institutes that are generating knowledge and conducting research will be most welcome to apply. Every effort will be made to achieve gender balance among the participants. In your Letter of Application, please also submit any technical or IT requirements you may have for your 5-minute introductory presentation. Furthermore, please indicate any dietary requirements, allergies, special needs, etc.

Criteria for participant acceptance

A maximum of thirty participants can be invited to the workshop, in order to maximize participatory and interactive exchanges. Letters of application should include biographical descriptions of your nominated candidate. Criteria for participant acceptance are as follows:

1) Variety of geographical, academic, research, NGO. policy, and institutional mix
2) Gender, age, and background diversity
3) Experience and seriousness of interest in addressing peace research issues in teaching and scholarship.
4) Relevance of the workshop topic to teaching/research responsibilities

Additional information on the background, objectives, and logistical information concerning the workshop is attached to this invitation.

Your responses should reach us no later than Sunday, 4 September 2005, either by fax
(+221 824 12 8990) or by e-mail addressed to [email protected]. You will be notified by Friday 23 September 2005 if your nominee has been accepted. We take this opportunity to thank you for your continued contributions to developing the culture of peace in the world through training, research and publication.

Concept Paper
23 to 26 October 2005
Research Capacity-Building Workshop:
Developing Research Skills and Conceptual Capacity for
Peace Building and Development

PLACE: Dakar, Senegal

DATES: 23 to 26 October 2005

DEADLINE FOR LETTER OF APPLICATION: 4 September 2005

TOPIC: Developing Research Skills and Conceptual Capacity for Peace Building and Development

ORGANISERS AND SPONSORS

• CODESRIA, or the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
The continent’s leading research institution is based in Dakar, Senegal, hence the location for the workshop. CODESRIA has been at the cutting edge of the major development of the social sciences in Africa. Its specialists are renowned in diverse fields. In addition to making its experts available for substantive discussions and assistance in small-group sessions, CODESRIA will act as the co-ordinating host institution and will hold primary responsibility for selection of participants and expediting of arrangements and logistics.

• Africa Programme, University for Peace (UPEACE), affiliated with the UN
The mandate of UPEACE from the UN General Assembly is unique and constructive: to promote peace and security worldwide through education, training, and research on peace-related issues, including on human rights, gender equity, economic development and peace, environmental security, peace education, international law and settlement of disputes, disarmament and non-proliferation, and the media and conflict. In its Africa Programme, two points out of the ten-point action plan for Education for Peace in Africa pertain to research. One chapter on research specifically identifies the building of research capacity for the purposes of stimulating research for teaching purposes throughout Africa as a key purpose for the Africa Programme. Another chapter identifies the linkage of policy and research as a priority. The Africa programme operates on several levels: targeted activities focus on the needs of universities, organizations, and countries; regional and sub-regional activities build collaboration in order to achieve a critical mass of expertise and resources; Africa-wide networks for research and teaching are being formed; and cooperative programmes between Africa and the rest of the world are beginning. Strengthening African research, its dissemination and use is thus a central purpose of the Africa Programme. Without sound and up-to-date analysis, research, and data, policies will be inadequate and teaching becomes stale. Underpinning all aspects of the Africa Programme is the development of carefully calibrated research to shape academic excellence and refresh teaching, so that African institutions of higher learning reach their full stature and a new generation of leaders is fully aware of present and future approaches and issues. Such collaborative research will be able to influence policy and improve international understanding of Africa.

• Journal of Peacebuilding and Development (a project of the South-North Centre for Peace Building and Development (Zimbabwe), and the American University Center for Global Peace (CGP) Washington D.C.
The Journal of Peacebuilding and Development is a bi-annual journal providing a forum for the sharing of critical thinking and constructive action on issues at the intersections of conflict, development and peace. JPD, a primary project of SNCPD, is an ongoing endeavour that strives to promote and contribute to the development of a new inter-disciplinary field of peace building and development. Specifically, it provides a space for the gathering and documenting of institutional memory—a critical building block of any new field. Through the journal, key debates can be nurtured, strategies shared, and lessons remembered.

The South North Centre for Peacebuilding and Development (SNCPD), based in Harare, seeks to contribute to the evolution of a new interdisciplinary field of study, practice, and policy debate and formulation in the area of peace building and development. From the premise that both fields are deeply intertwined in their practical and theoretical inceptions, dynamics, outputs and impacts, SNCPD seeks to undertake activities in the areas of research, publishing, training and curriculum development, thus laying foundations for integrated thinking and practice.

In keeping with the American University’s mandate for global education, the university-wide Center for Global Peace was established in 1996 to provide a framework for programmes and initiatives to advance the study and understanding of world peace, within a sustainable world order. By seeking to improve the understanding of local, national, and global linkages among social, political, cultural, economic, and civic structures whose deterioration can lead to violence and social upheaval, the Center provides a forum for analysis of a wide range of multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural approaches to peace and conflict resolution and sustainable development.

BACKGROUND
In parts of the African continent, universities are set in war-torn regions recovering from armed hostilities, where emphasis has justly been placed on re-establishing the core subjects and not necessarily to peace studies. In the last two decades, African universities have been weakened by structural adjustment programmes, which siphoned off badly needed resources from the education, health, and other basic service sectors. University lecturers often cannot afford to live on their wages and must seek additional employment?a fact that inhibits their ability to research, publish, and generally to give full attention to their profession. Nonetheless, valuable teaching and research activities are in progress across the continent, although often in isolation, suffering from inadequate support, with unqualified teachers, and a lack of information and adequate teaching materials. Almost everywhere, a sense of urgency accompanies the perceived need to strengthen and support teaching and research. Yet few universities have the financial means to train faculties and provide opportunities for enhancing skills in research and publishing. African institutions of higher learning have been hampered in giving attention to linkages between educational methods and curricular choices for practical developmental needs. In short, painful historical gaps sometime exist in the pursuit of educational institutions that can invigorate and embolden peace and policy-oriented research. While this is a serious problem in many parts of the world, it is nowhere more important to strengthen the capacity for peace and policy-oriented research than in Africa. This is in part due to the fact that a great deal of highly innovative work is going undocumented, and also because of the number of acute conflicts, development crises, and abuses of human rights found on the continent. As consensus builds across Africa on the need to nourish cultures of peace, the universities are critical to grounding this evolution with their studies and research. Since peace and conflict studies is a relatively new field in Africa, strong support is important for strengthening such a significant development.

PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP
Critically needed in Africa and internationally is policy-related research that arises from and speaks to the particularities, needs, aspirations, and insights of persons working in Africa. This research workshop will bring together African academicians for an intensive three-day workshop to share and improve research methodologies for this broad purpose. As a problem-solving dimension is central, the participating instructors, researchers, and scholars are asked to bring with them examples of particular research quandaries or predicaments, and practical examples and stories of how they sought to resolve them. The research workshop is designed collectively to identify research-methodology challenges, and share lessons and recommendations for overcoming them. Highly interactive and participative, an emphasis will be placed on building human and institutional collaborative research facilities among an incipient knowledge network. Topical research questions will be considered, for example, new developments in conducting research on root causes of acute conflict, gender and building peace, environmental degradation as a cause of strife, and non-violent transformation of conflict. Such themes will be viewed as indicative under the umbrella of policy-relevant and action-oriented peace research in Africa

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES
Participants will:
1. Be exposed to methodologies for developing research skills and conceptual capacity for building peace and sustainable development.
2. Gain insight into new, cutting-edge developments in policy-relevant and action-oriented peace research.
3. Learn how to tackle methodological challenges, such as developing interdisciplinary approaches and conducting rigorous interviews.
4. Be exposed to different epistemological orientations. They will be challenged to understand the role of values and judgements from different perspectives and how this applies to different methodologies.
5. Gain insight into the importance of linking research with policy and practice. They will be encouraged to consider how they can structure and sustain collaborative research facilities.
6. Learn the art of preparing articles for publication in academic journals and how to handle the news media to communicate their findings with policy implications.
7. Return to their institutions able to strengthen their capacity in peace-oriented research as it is linked to sustainable development.
8. Become more aware of ethical issues that arise in peace research, for example, confidentiality and the need for professional research that strives for objectivity and promotes open debate of different perspectives.

QUALIFYING PARTICIPANTS
In order to maximize participatory and interactive exchanges, a maximum of only thirty participants will finally be invited to attend from among those nominated by their institutions. The sponsors and organisers of the workshop invite interested institutions of higher learning, research institutes, and civil society organizations (CSOs) to nominate a representative to submit an application. The final invitations will be extended by CODESRIA as the result of the institutionally nominated applicant writing a letter of purpose. Nominees’ letters of application will be entertained from any African academician, instructor, researcher, or scholar who is currently teaching subjects with a research component, or individuals who will in the next term begin teaching peace-related subject matter with a research dimension (and who are nominated by their institutions). Instructors in quantitative and qualitative analysis with a particular interest in incorporating peace research into their ongoing work are particularly encouraged to apply. We especially seek academicians who are already conducting policy discussions related to peace with parliamentarians and policy makers to apply. Practitioners (as opposed to academicians) who are working in areas closely related to the research questions noted here are eagerly sought. Thus, to clarify, in addition to lecturers, instructors, professors, and scholars, members of NGOs and CSOs or peace research institutes that are generating knowledge and conducting research will be most welcome to apply, if nominated by their institutions. Every effort will be made to achieve gender balance among the participants.

PROCESS OF APPLICATION
An announcement will be electronically posted through the databases of the four sponsoring organizations, to invite institutions of higher learning, research institutes, and CSOs to nominate qualified participants (as noted above) to submit letters of application by 4 September 2005. The Research Capacity-Building workshop will take place on 23 to 26 October 2005.

Nominee’s letter of application deadline: 4 September 2005
Each nominee’s letter of application should include the following:
• Current title and position
• Up-to-date biographical sketch indicating professional and educational background
• Contact details, including fax and e-mail.
• Current research and teaching responsibilities of the applicant
• The applicant’s research and/or teaching plans for the immediate future (spring term)
• Indication of support from the applicant’s institution. (Expenses, but no honorarium will be covered. In addition to transportation, a daily subsistence allowance will be paid to cover meals not provided by the workshop. Please note that no honorarium or per diem is offered by the sponsors and organisers.) Once formally accepted, in the event of an invitee’s cancellation, the applicant’s institution would need to reimburse CODESRIA.
• One-paragraph description of the specific research question, or purpose, of the nominated applicant. In other words, why exactly do you wish to participate?
• Proposed topic for the participant’s brief presentation on challenges and problem-solving approaches and lessons, directly from his or her experiences.
• Indication of technical back-up needed for the applicant’s presentation, e.g., power point, slide projector, film projector, or other A-V equipment.

Letters should reach CODESRIA no later than Sunday, 4 September 2005, either by fax
(+221 824 12 8990) or by e-mail to [email protected]. Notification will be made by Friday 23 September 2005 if the nominated candidate has been accepted. Letters should be received at the following address by no later than Sunday, 4 September 2005:

CODESRIA
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop x
Canal IV, BP 3304
Dakar 18524, Senegal
Telephone: +221 825 98 22/23
Fax: +221 824 12 89
E-mail: [email protected]

Primary responsibility for acceptance of thirty nominated applications will be borne by CODESRIA, in consultation with the other sponsoring and organising partners. CODESRIA will take principal responsibility for receiving, sorting, evaluating, and grouping applications. Pending final consultations with the other sponsors and organisers, notification will be made electronically, or by fax if no e-mail is available. Included will be a form to specify transportation details, so that tickets can be purchased as far in advance as possible. Upon notification of final, formal acceptance, visa instructions will be provided.

CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPANT ACCEPTANCE
1. Geographical, academic, research, NGO. policy, institutional mix and variety
2. Gender, age, and background diversity
3. Experience and seriousness of interest in addressing peace issues in teaching and scholarship.

INITIAL FACULTY
Professor Abdul Karim Bangura, School of International Service, International Peace and Conflict Resolution Division, The American University, Washington, D.C.
Professor Mary E. King, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University for Peace, and an academic adviser to the Africa Programme
Erin McCandless, Executive Editor, Journal of Peacebuilding and Development and Civil Affairs Officer, United Nations Mission in Liberia, (UNMIL), Liberia
Professor Ebrima Sall, Head, Research and Documentation Department, CODESRIA, and an academic adviser to the Africa Programme, University for Peace
Dr. Moussa Samb, International Development Research Council (IDRC)
Additional faculty drawn from CODESRIA, UPEACE, IDRC, and elsewhere.

CHALLENGES, PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACHES, AND LESSONS
To kick off the programme and introduce ourselves, each participant will give a 3 – 5 minute presentation on a lesson, success, or predicament faced in developing research skills and conceptual capacity for peace building and development. Examples include:
• Documenting peace-building innovations in one locality and applying lessons elsewhere;
• Research methodologies examining the relationships between development and peace, to improve their integrated application;
• Research approaches to encouraging critical thinking among students;
• Research breakthroughs in understanding gender and peace building links,
• Improving the historiography of non-violent struggles in Africa;
• Recent findings on endogenous methods and traditional knowledge on peace building and sustainable development;
• Borrowing from feminist research methodologies to incorporate excluded voices and sectors.

QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE WORKSHOP INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING
What are the key concepts and skills needed for building peace and development?
Why are the linkages and intersections important?
Why do African universities, so often struggling against hardships, need peace research?
What makes peace research different and useful?
What is action research?
How can I improve my interviewing technique, so that my approach is free of personal judgements?
Why is the field of gender now considered integral to peace and conflict studies?
What innovations would help NGOs and CSOs to cooperate on research with academicians?
What difference would such collaboration make?
Why is it important to discuss research findings with parliamentarians and policy makers? What techniques for presenting research conclusions work best?
How do I get articles published in an academic journal?
The news media search out the warlords and armed militia leaders, but they never ask me for a quotation. How do I organize and conduct a news conference, write a news release, and enhance my ability to get the results of my research across to the public through the news media?

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME OUTLINE

Day 1: 24 October 2005
Laying the groundwork for peacebuilding and development
research and practice

Morning session

Opening Plenary
The African context
• Keynote: Adebayo Olukoshi, CODESRIA (to be confirmed) linking education and research with action and policy, to offer a picture of practical problems in Africa, on critical historical, policy, and institutional challenges concerning education, now facing Africa, and how to make education serve the needs for peace and development.
• Ebrima Sall, CODESRIA, on the context of social-sciences training and research in Africa, based on his working paper entitled ‘Social Sciences in Africa: Trends, Issues, Capacities, and Constraints’.

Participant introductory presentations
Personal experiences: methodological challenges and best practices
Participant introductions (3-5 minutes) will focus on lessons learned and practical problems related to overall theme of Developing Research Skills and Conceptual Capacity for Peace Building and Development.

LUNCH

Afternoon Session

Conceptual and epistemological issues in peacebuilding and development
research and practice

Conceptions and paradigms – confusion or consensus?
Led by Erin McCandless (Journal of Peacebuilding and Development)
• Key concepts in the service of peace building and development; –conceptual consensus or confusion? Debates and practical and paradigmatic implications
• Epistemology (ways of knowing and the relationship between the researcher and the researched) and the role of values in peace research
• Building interdisciplinary theory, policy and practice

6:30 p.m., 24 October 2005
Evening Welcome Dinner
Programme to be confirmed

Day 2: 25 October 2005
Research-methodology challenges and best practices

Morning session

Opening Plenary
Peace research methodologies
• Led by Professor Abdul Karim Bangura, School of International Service, International Peace and Conflict Resolution Division, The American University, Washington, D.C., discussion of what makes peace research different and useful, why action research can be helpful, and why the field of gender is now considered integral to peace and conflict studies?

Focus group sessions
Participants will enter focus groups to discuss challenges and best practices in critical areas of research methodology. Facilitators will kick off discussion with short presentations:
1) interviewing techniques; TBC
2) conducting action research; facilitator: Abdul Karim Bangura, AU
3) evaluation and impact assessment; facilitator: Erin McCandless, JPD
4) research strategy design; TBC

Afternoon session

Focus group sessions continued
Participants will undertake second focus group session and then discuss in plenary.

Conflict / peace research case studies
Resource persons to highlight case studies on issues of concern to researchers/ NGOs / and policy-makers highlighting methodological / research strategies.

Evening Learning Programme

Panel discussion and/or small working groups on enhancing academia – CSO – policy collaboration
(Findings presented in morning)
• Experiences, lessons and best practices of from linking research, policy and practice
• Innovations in each and how to share with others

Day 3: 26 October 2005
Moving a collaborative agenda forward

Morning Session

Building networks for action
• Report back from previous evening’s working groups
• Plenary discussion: How to link academia, policy think-tanks, peace research institutes, and NGOs and CSOs. How to develop collaborative research facilities. Development of research-methodology and teacher-training materials. Strengthening networks. South:South exchanges.

Personal and organizational outreach strategies

Presentations followed by small-group exercises
Led by Professor Mary King:

• Publishing articles: Specific ways to bring an article to publication in an academic journal (Erin McCandless and Abdul-Karim Bangura)
• Media relations: Organising and conducting a news conference, writing a news release, and enhancing one’s ability to communicate research findings with policy implications to the public, through the news media, and to policymakers (Sandy Campbell, IDRC)
• Policy analysis: Dr. Samb, IDRC

Afternoon Session

Generating recommendations
Participants will identify key institutional obstacles and chart recommendations to the academy, civil society, and policymakers to advance a collaborative agenda for peace research and action.

News Conference
The workshop will end with a news conference, utilising the strategies discussed in the closing sessions.