VIC IDS Happenings

Terra Dumont — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:38:59 GMT

Hi All,

There are lots of events on this coming week around Wellington, see further down for details.

This week's meeting is going to be a bit different. We're going to have a big brainstorming session as to what events you guys would like to see put on this year. So come along on Monday the 17^th of March at 5pm to CO304 to have your say in what VicIDS does this year!

We've also just started a VicIDS Facebook group, so be sure to join! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9548728586

Have a great week and we'll see you on Monday!

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EVENTS, EVENTS, EVENTS & other info (details further down)

* Ethics of Volunteering – free film screening, Tuesday 18^th March, from 5:30pm

* Power in International Development, Monday 17^th March, 1-3pm

* Tourism Management Lecture by Dr. William Hipwell, Thursday 20th March, 12:30-1.30pm

* Evalution Seminar with Dr. King, Thursday 20th March, 4-6pm

* "For those who wish to battle study stress", Saturday 22nd March, 2:45-3:45 pm

* New Development Website - www.developmentcrossing.com

* U8 Newsletter

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*Ethics of Volunteering – free film screening

Tuesday March 18^th, from 5:30pm

Centre for Global Action, 2^nd Floor, James Smith Building, 55 Cuba Street

Free film evening to launch Just Change issue 11 on the Ethics of Volunteering.

Come and see "Changing the World on Vacation: the Politics of Passion"

Must see for anyone considering volunteering internationally!

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*Power in International Development
Monday March 17th 1-3pm
Seminar Room CO 304, Cotton Building, Victoria University of Wellington

A talk led by Valerie Miller and Peggy Healy From Just Associates

Valerie Miller and Peggy Healy have both worked in advocacy, international development, gender, and human rights for more than 30 years, as well as publishing numerous articles and books, therefore have a wealth of experience and knowledge on issues of power within international development. CID is lucky enough to have Valerie and Peggy as the facilitators for our *** on Power in International Development, taking place on the 10th to the 13th of March. This talk will be an opportunity to follow on from the issues that emerge at the *** and to discuss the undercurrents of power that are present when talking conceptually and practicing International Development.

Read more about Valerie and Peggy and the organisation they are involved in at http://www.justassociates.org/

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*"Viewing Ecotourism as Asset-Based Community Development: Tales from Indigenous Taiwan"

Thursday 20^th March 12:30-1:30pm (followed by coffee)

Room 05, Mezzanine Floor, Rutherford House, Pititea Campus

Dr. William (Bill) Hipwell, Lecturer in Development Studies – School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences

Amidst a recent resurgence in identity among indigenous (aboriginal) peoples ("Formosans") on the island of Taiwan in the western Pacific, many interesting new tourism initiatives have begun. The paper presents qualitative field research illuminating case studies of indigenous community-based tourism development in Taiwan -— in Tsou, Tayal and Taroko territories. It argues that tourism development by the Saviki Tsou at Tanayiku in particular has been characterised by the employment of "joyful affirmation" and "will-to-power" (c.f. Friedrich Nietzsche), and can therefore be described as an example of "asset-based community development" (ABCD) (described by Mathie and Cunningham 2003). It further argues a similar approach may be of value for the L'olu Tayal and the Taroko of S'kadang, as well as post-colonial rural communities in other places. The presentation also has a few cool photos and some music...

For further information please contact: Doug Pearce, Seminar Coordinator: douglas.pearce@vuw.ac.nz or phone 04 463 5715

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*"Participatory Evaluation Methods and Evaluator Competencies" with Dr. Jean King

Thursday 20^th March 4-6pm

Turnbull House, Bowen Street, Wellington

This event welcomes Dr. King to Wellington, and offers you the opportunity to hear Dr King discuss the highlights of her work in participatory evaluation methods and her work on evaluator competencies.

4-5pm Presentation
5-6pm Networking and informal discussion over drinks/nibbles

Dr. Jean King has been an evaluator since the mid 1970s, primarily in education and social services. She holds a life-time evaluator¹s licence from the state of Louisiana (the only state in the USA ever to have evaluation certification). Dr. King established the Evaluation Studies graduate degrees and minor at the University of Minnesota. She is a long-time leader of the American Evaluation Association (ran the annual conference for over a decade, former editor of New Directions for Evaluation and co-founded three different topical interest groups).

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*For those who wish to battle study stress

Saturday 22^nd March 2:45-3:45pm

Waiwhetu United Church, Corner Trafalgar and Grenville Streets, Lower Hutt

More and more research is pointing to meditation as one of the most effective tools for bringing balance to your life. This Easter weekend the Shri Ram Chandra Mission NZ is having a regional seminar and has arranged an open house session on Saturday, 22nd of March. This will be chance to learn about Sahaj Marg, or 'The Natural Path' technique of mediation. This technique is a simplified form of raja yoga (yoga of the mind) which has been specifically designed for the modern (and therefore busy!) lifestyle. There is no charge for learning the technique and it offers a practical way to learn how to regulate the mind and stay on top of things – which will hopefully also help you pass your exams!!

For those who wish to come along (it will be a very relaxed environment) or for any further questions please send an email to Sunitha at Sunitha.Vazzalwar@ajpark.com

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*New Development Website – www.developmentcrossing.com

We would like to invite you and your friends to join the debates and discussions on climate change, international development and corporate social responsibility at Development Crossing, a free professional networking site for individuals and organizations to discuss and share ideas around sustainable development.

Our new site allows users to create profiles for free to network, discuss, and share ideas around corporate social responsibility and international development.

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*U8 Newsletter – March 2008

Dear U8 Member,

Instead of our usual updates, the March Newsletter will be a special edition highlighting some of the ways YOU can get involved within the U8.

Online Discussions:

Our members are very active on our online discussion forums. If there is an issue in development that you have always wanted to discuss with others either because you have been wondering about it, you do not understand it, an idea that works well or just something you have always wanted to put out there for others to read, our online forums provide the perfect space for this!

Blogs:

Over the next few months we will be publishing an international monthly blog written by a professional on a specific area in development. These are there for you to comment on and we will feed back your comments to the professionals.

Furthermore, there is a range of student blogs, which you can read and comment on as well. Starting this month we will be publishing a fortnightly blog by Vava Tampa about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. If you too wish to write a regular blog, then send us an email and let us know!

Research Projects:

Banner Project Round is in full swing with the research projects being discussed online as well. However, if one of these research projects really interests you, please feel free to join the discussion and the project. However, if there is your own topic in development that you have always wanted to research why not start your own research project? Throw the idea out there in our forums and get other members interested. When you have a team, you can propose the project officially and get researching. Of course we are here to help you through the process!

Start or Join a U8 Group:

If you look through the University Hubs section on our website, you will see all the current U8 groups. You can find your closest one and join them as well as joining the hub on the website and seeing which other people are there. Alternatively if there is no U8 group in your area, then you can start your own. Currently we are working with Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and the University of Cape Town in South Africa to set up University Hubs there. Again, if this is something that you would like to do too, we are very happy to help you get started with all the necessary materials.

Regional Summits:

These are a great way to get to know people in the U8 in your area. The London U8 Universities have taken the initiative to set up their own summit from the 15^th-16^th March 2008 with the aim of strengthening the regional capacity of the U8 in the area. If you would also like to set up a regional summit in your area let us know of your plans and we will support you in any way we can.

Practical Projects:

Numerous members and universities have taken up practical projects. For example, U8 Cairo (Egypt) has taken the initiative to approach various NGOs in order to collect empirical expertise on issues such as sustainable development, youth in the society and gender equality; Bournemouth University (UK) and Mzumbe University (Tanzania) have set up their own microfinance initiative to help women in a rural village in Tanzania. These case studies and projects can be documented and incorporated very well into research projects as well, making them truly unique.

Global Youth Service Day:

U8 is part of huge network of youth around the world who are involved in development initiatives. To celebrate this, there will be the annual Global Youth Service Day (GYSD):

On April 25-28, 2008, millions of young people in more than 100 countries throughout the world will participate in the 20th annual Global Youth Service Day. As the largest service event in the world, this three-day event will mobilize youth to identify and address the world's most pressing problems, such as climate change, poverty, disease, disaster relief and prevention, violence, and more. Get involved!

Global Youth Service Day is a year-round effort to expand the impact of the youth service movement. The initiative launches new service organizations, policy changes, and sustainable service programs to create a culture of engaged youth. Internationally, YSA works with the Global Youth Action Network as a key partner, along with an International Coordinating Committee of more than 40 members and over 100 national coordinating committees.

The U8 Global Student Partnership for Development is a member of the International Coordinating Committee, a consortium of prestigious international organizations that contribute their extensive international presence, offer experience and connections to broaden GYSD's impact, and evaluate its development as an international event.

Please visit www.gysd.org to access tools to help you plan your project, find grants to support your planning efforts, and to register your organization as Global Youth Service Day participant.

We hope this has inspired you to get involved and we would like to emphasise once again that regardless of how you wish to get involved with the U8, we are here to support your efforts! And once again we would like to remind you that U8 is run by students for students – so if there is a feature you would like to see in the future, please let us know! We welcome any suggestions!

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VicIDS

Victoria International Development Society
Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand - Aotearoa
www.vicids.org.nz

Member of U8 Global Student Partnership for Development
www.u8development.com

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VIC IDS Happenings