Co-Construction of Knowledge

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    Transformative learning through environmental action: An overview of an IDRC sponsored project
    (1995) Hall, Budd L
    Dr. Budd L. Hall presents an overview of a research project on transformative learning in environmental action, carried out with colleagues at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, York University, and partner organizations in Brazil. The project grew out of work around the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and the Treaty on Environmental Education for Sustainable Societies and focused on what people learn through environmental campaigns linked to food production, distribution, and consumption. Drawing on case studies from India, Sudan, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Venezuela, and El Salvador, along with an international survey and a collective workshop, Hall and his co-researchers look at what needs to change in current systems, including life conditions, power relations, and ways of thinking, and set out ten principles of transformative learning, among them recovering a sense of place, reconnecting with nature, and recognizing historical struggles. The paper also describes practical methods used across the case studies, such as community meetings, learning from elders, and seed festivals, along with possible indicators of success. Hall notes that although computer networking was planned as a central tool, it ultimately played only a minor role in the project.
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    A river of life: Learning and environmental social movements
    (Interface: A journal for and about social movement, 2009) Hall, Budd L
    What and how can we learn from social movements? According to Dr. Budd Hall, social movements are intense locations for knowledge to come together and for learning to happen. They are seen as one of the best routes to social transformation because they bring together action, learning and social change. In this 2009 paper, Dr. Hall reflects on the epistemic value of social movements in the creation of knowledge. He begins by exploring what a social movement is and outlines its characteristic features as discussed by different schools of thought. The paper is a collaborative effort involving teams from three organisations and presents qualitative analyses based on case studies of environmental social movements from countries like Venezuela, Brazil, Sudan, India, Canada and many more. From these cases, the paper formulates key principles of environmental social movement learning, including seeing humans as part of nature rather than separate from it, deconstructing power relations in our relationship with nature and with each other as a first step toward transforming them, and several other interconnected insights. Through both theoretical reflection and grounded case studies, Hall argues that social movements, while leading to social transformation, also facilitate deep personal transformation by creating powerful spaces for learning.
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    Asian regional participatory research network: A note
    (1985) Tandon, Rajesh
    Dr. Rajesh Tandon's 1985 note reviews seven years of the Asian Regional Participatory Research Network, outlining its theoretical orientation and administrative structure. He argues participatory research in Asia has become part of the organized struggles of local people, challenging expert authority and helping communities build their own strength. The work has centered on five group-, workers, the rural poor, tribals, women, and urban slum dwellers, approached from a clear position alongside the oppressed rather than through debates over methods. On the administrative side, he records decisions from the December 1983 Manila meeting: regional coordination staying with the Society for Participatory Research in Asia, New Delhi, and patchy communication between regions. The note closes by asking someone else to take over as international coordinator after his three years in the post and calls for more inter-regional collaboration, possible residency exchanges, and a better networking system.
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    Knowledge and social change: An inquiry into participatory research in India
    (Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 1985-10) Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)
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    Big Tent Communique VI. Local identities and global citizenship: A message from Catania and challenges for universities
    (2015-11-04) Hall, Budd L
    In a world facing growing inequality, conflict, and environmental strain, the Sixth Big Tent Communiqué reflects on what role universities can play in responding to these challenges. It sees higher education as more than classrooms and research, calling for closer ties with communities and a stronger sense of responsibility to society. The communiqué raises questions about how universities can support young people, create knowledge that connects rather than divides, and rebuild trust in uncertain times. Instead of final answers, it leaves open the possibility that the future of universities will depend on how far they are willing to rethink their purpose.
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    Participatory research international networking memo, August 1, 1987
    (1987-08-01) Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)
    The August 1987 issue of the Participatory Research International Networking Memo, circulated by PRIA, reports on the May 1987 arrest of Vincent Cheng Kim Chuan and fifteen others by Singapore's Internal Security Department. It presents the network's response to the arrests and includes an appeal for letters of support. The issue also announces the International Forum on Participatory Evaluation, planned for New Delhi in March 1988 with the International Council for Adult Education and ASPBAE, seeking regional input on structure, case studies, and funding. A regional update section surveys developments across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, and North America, including the founding assembly of the African Association of Literacy and Adult Education, an Indonesian action research network, a Philippine community project, the 1986 J. Roby Kidd Award to Anthya Madiath, and the planned CEAAL assembly in Mexico. It closes with notices of new publications and a proposal for an international anthology on participatory research.
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    Who is driving development? Reflections on the transformative potential of asset-based community development?
    (Coady International Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, 2003-10) Mathie, Alison; Cunningham, Gord
    Arising out of a critique of needs-based approaches to development, Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) offers a set of principles to mobilize and sustain community economic development. This paper draws attention to the connections between these principles and practices and (i) current interest in sustainable livelihoods as a conceptual framework, (ii) the concept of social capital, (iii) the social psychology of mobilization, (iv) the enhancement capacity and agency to engage as citizens with the entitlements of citizenship, (v) the role of multiple stakeholders; and (vi) the issue of control over the development process. Finally the paper points to the challenges for NGOs employing an asset-based, community-driven approach given the needs-based, problem-solving paradigm in which they operate.