Development’s Futures Conference
The Development’s Futures Conference was organised by the Development Education
and Research Network (DERN) in the National University of Ireland Galway and was
sponsored by Irish Aid. It took place on the 24th and 25th November 2007. 216 scholars,
practitioners and activists attended the conference, from Europe, the US, and many
countries of the South.
The conference aimed to enhance the connections between development research and
education, and integrate dimensions of practice and activism. Scholars, practitioners and
activists were encouraged to come together to discuss the critical issues in development
research and development education, and to share their responses to the challenges of
development.
The keynote address was given by Michael Edwards of the Ford Foundation. The
conference was opened by Minister of State for Overseas Development, Mr Michael Kitt,
and Mr Palagummi Sainath from The Hindu closed the conference by giving the Plenary
Session.
Over the two days of the conference, 66 presentations were made in 22 panel seminars.
The themes were diverse: in each parallel session there was at least one specific
“Development Education” seminar, while other seminars included many of Irish Aid’s
thematic priorities and cross cutting issues, such as “Gender Perspectives”, “Environment
and Development”, “Governance and Policies” and “HIV/AIDS”. There was a good
balance between academic and practical based presentations, which reflected the diverse
backgrounds of attending delegates.
As well as the standard seminar sessions, posters were also displayed in the lobby area
from four conference delegates. There was also an opportunity for a number of
Development Education organisations to display their resources in the lobby area of the
conference venue.
A photo exhibition of “Women and Work in Rural India” was also displayed. This
exhibition consisted of 70 black and white photos, taken by the plenary speaker,
Palagummi Sainath, in the poorest regions of India. The exhibition reflected women’s
labour and the enormous, yet unacknowledged, contribution they make to the national
economy. The aim of the exhibition was to represent the rural poor as actively seeking
employment and opportunity rather than pity or charity. DERN is very grateful to the
Visual Arts Committee in NUI Galway for financing the transit costs of this exhibition
from India.
Thirteen bursaries were awarded to delegates from low-income countries. Irish Aid
provided bursaries for 11 conference delegates to travel from Ethiopia, Zimbabwe,
Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Bangladesh, and India. Dóchas also kindly provided two
further bursaries for two delegates from Sri Lanka and Cuba.
This e-book contains the majority of the papers that were presented at the conference,
together with the keynote address given by Michael Edwards of the Ford Foundation, the
opening speech by Minister of State for Overseas Development, Michael Kitt and the
welcome note by Iognáid G. Ó Muircheartaigh, President of NUI Galway. It is edited by
Carol Healy, the principal organiser of the conference. All papers have been edited for
grammar, accuracy and coherence, but no process of peer review has been undertaken. A
basic standardised format was adopted for presentation in this publication, but the papers
have not undergone a rigorous editing process.
Irish Aid has generously funded the publication and dissemination of this e-book. DERN
and NUI Galway very much appreciate Irish Aid’s financial support for the conference,
the award of the bursaries and the publication of this e-book.