India, 28 November to 5 December 2005

Outcomes:

Review list of participants or visit photo gallery

Reports on South-South Exchange Travelling Workshop 2005

* Ghenga Sesan ( - 992KB)
* Peter Onyango ( - 85KB)
* Samuel Senfuka ( - 2.3MB)
* Sylvie Niombo ( - 139KB)

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The 2005 South-South Exchange Travelling Workshop was be hosted by a GKP member, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) from 28 November to 5 December 2005.

Purpose

Exchange of development perspectives between village communities in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry in southern India and civil societies from developing countries with specific focus on ICT-enabled development.

Exchange of knowledge and experience between visiting participants from civil societies of developing countries and village communities of Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu which are involved in many development programmes of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).

The participants will provide a profile of their organisations and their work, and bring with them presentations (posters, photographs, audio cassettes, Powerpoint presentations, short films, etc.). These materials will be taken to all the villages where the workshop will visit and be exhibited to the community. Similarly, the villagers will share their materials with the participants.

In the past MSSRF have held a travelling workshop in the area of agricultural practices with experts from several Asian countries (Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan included) visiting their field stations and working closely with their farming communities. MSSRF found that in certain situations such workshops involving field visits and the local communities are far more productive than the regular workshops in seminar halls. In October 2002, MSSRF held the first South-South Exchange Travelling Workshop (with financial support from Hivos , IICD and IDRC ) and in October-November 2003 MSSRF held the second South-South Exchange Travelling Workshop with financial support from GKP . The third workshop was held in October 2004.


Participants

Programme officers and implementers of ICT-enabled development projects (NGOs as well as governments) from developing countries sponsored by GKP and other development agencies. The participants should be familiar with ICT and community development and should be in a position to make immediate use of what they learn in their projects/programmes. A few representatives of donor agencies may also join the group.


Past Experience

During October 2002, a similar programme was organised with support from HIVOS, IICD and IDRC. Twenty-one participants from 11 countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America participated in the workshop, including two representatives from donor agencies. The participants felt that the workshop enabled them to develop a perspective on modern ICT and rural knowledge management. Ms Julie Ferguson formerly of IICD (now Hivos) has written a detailed report on the workshop [IICD Research Brief No. 4, January 2003].
(http://www.ftpiicd.org/files/research/briefs/Brief4.pdf ).

As an immediate follow up, and with a view to sustaining the interest of the participants, an electronic discussion group (called C3Net) was formed. The list attracts about 25 postings a week. The experience helped some of the participants to start ICT based knowledge centres in their respective countries. Following up on a suggestion made by delegates from Africa, women in Nallavadu (a village in Pondicherry) have formed many self-help groups and started a few micro-enterprises. At the village meeting with the participants of the workshops, local women did not take part at all; they remained silent observers. It was thanks to the prodding from the African colleagues that they became emboldened.


The MSSRF team

M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India, hosted the Workshop. The team consists of Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam, Mr S Senthilkumaran, and Dr Thiagarajan, Ms Nancy Anabel, and Dr Nagarajan and the MSSRF staff and volunteers in the villages. There will be a few guest faculty.


Methodology

Focused Group Discussion between the visiting participants and the village communities involved in ICT-enabled development and field visits. Villagers will present their experiences, and visiting participants will share their experiences with the villagers. Each participant is encouraged to talk about his/her experiences and to take an active part in the discussions. Learning by doing and interactive learning is preferred to formal lectures and presentations. For this reason, most of the workshop was held at MSSRF project sites and only a few sessions will be held at MSSRF headquarters. Hence, the need for a travelling workshop.

Concept

1. Learning from one another's knowledge and experience in real world settings, especially about integrating skill empowerment, market linkages and multiple livelihood opportunities and the role of modern ICT in poverty alleviation.

2. Social, economic and financial viability of ICT-enabled development programmes with particular reference to the projects represented at the Workshop.

3. South-South exchange of perspectives and approaches on integrating ICT in development activities. Efforts will be made to distinguish between genuine success and hype.

Process Documentation

The entire programme will be captured and documented by a rapporteur.


Evaluation & Monitoring

The immediate results of the project would be assessed through

1. Conducting pre- and post-workshop surveys to find out changes in Knowledge, Attitude, Skills, Aspiration & Practice (KASAP) with the participants

2. Dummy proposals prepared by the participants for new projects with estimation of financial viability

Output

1. The workshop will help the participants to better integrate modern ICT in their development projects.

2. It will give them a perspective regarding various technologies involved in rural ICT.

3. It will help them to blend ICT in the local knowledge management process.

Programme Activities

The deadline for submission is 23-September. Registration is closed.

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About M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation - a GKP Member
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) was registered in 1988 as a non-profit Trust. The basic mandate of MSSRF is to impart pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation to a job-led economic growth strategy in rural areas through harnessing science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development.

MSSRF is doing research in the following five areas: Coastal Systems Research, Biodiversity and Biotechnology, Ecotechnology and Sustainable Agriculture, Reaching the Unreached, and Education, Communication, Training and Capacity Building. The flagship project of the Informatics Group is the Information Village Research Project.

Apart from the headquarters at Chennai, the Foundation has many field centres in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Orissa.

The Foundation operates through the following pathways to agricultural and rural development: conservation and enhancement of natural resources, promotion of sustainable livelihoods, gender equality and voicing the voiceless as well as information and skill empowerment. Through the Hindu Media Resource Centre the Foundation promotes public understanding of science through media practitioners.

The Foundation is known for its emphasis on bottom-up participatory approach, which places people before technology.

Contacts:

M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)
III Cross Street, Taramani Institutional area
Chennai – 600 113, INDIA
Phone: +91-44-22541229, 22542699, 22542698
Fax: +91-44-22541319
Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam, Distinguished Fellow & Adviser, NVA, MSSRF
S Senthilkumaran, Associate Director, Honda Informatics Centre, MSSRF