SAS2 - News and Newsworthy Events

Michelle Bourassa et Jacques Chevalier ont été invités le 18 novembre à présenter une conférence sur l’accompagnement du changement en éducation dans une perspective SAS2, à une soixantaine de chercheurs et formateurs réunis à Louvain-la-Neuve, en Belgique. En Europe comme ailleurs, le monde de l’éducation se débat avec des enjeux et défis d’autant plus complexes qu’ils s’avèrent souvent imprévisibles.

The Nigeria Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST) recently hosted a workshop on Strengthening Climate Change Adaptation in Nigeria at the Community Level. The workshop involved 5 days of intensive training in the use of SAS2 tools and approaches adapted to the inquiry, action and learning needs of 5 organizations working with CIDA support through the Building Nigeria's Response to Climate Change (BNRCC) project. Ricardo Ramirez and Maria Fernandez led the workshop, held in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.

We are pleased to announce that the "SAS2 Guide to Collaborative Inquiry and Social Engagement" is now available in Spanish, published by Plaza y Valdez (Mexico) and IDRC. Go to the IDRC website to view the publication online: http://www.idrc.ca/es/ev-130303-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Prabartana, in collaboration with UBINIG and the UNDP, organized a workshop to identify the causes of decline in the use of cotton and silk in the weaving of indigenous communities in the Chittiagong Hill tracts. SAS tools were used to identify the causes and to select trainers from among the members of the communities to promote cotton and silk. For more information, contact Shahid Hussain Shamim (Shamimnccb.yahoo.com).

We are pleased to announce the publication A Guide to Collaborative Inquiry and Social Engagement, by Jacques M. Chevalier and Daniel J. Buckles. This book, published by SAGE Publications and the International Development Research Centre, presents concepts and tools that form the basis of the SAS² contribution to action research, along with examples from the Global South.

The software Social Analysis CLIP has recently be updated and is now available to download onto your computer. Follow the Tools link to Software. Let us know what you think at sas2inter@sas2.net.

SAS² International is delighted to announce that 5 more people have become SAS² Certified Instructors or Certified Practitioners. Ana Mireya Suazo,
 Juan Amilcar Colindres and Wilmer Reyes (all from the Universidad Nacional de Agricultura,
 Catacamas – Olancho, Honduras) are now SAS² Certified Instructors. For several years now they have been training dozens of students in SAS² through their courses in Ecology, Agronomy and Environmental Studies.

Tamarack (An Institute for Community Engagement) has added SAS2 to their Learning Centre! Jacques Carrière of CUSO facilitated a SAS2 event at Tamarack, prompting the organization to write a very nice blurb about it and invite people to share their experience using SAS². See http://tamarackcommunity.ca/g3.php for details.

YouthScape, a program supported by the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria) and The McConnell Family Foundation, organized a one-day SAS2 evaluation at its November “Gathering Learning Symposium” in Montreal. The event, designed and facilitated by Jacques Chevalier and Michelle Bourassa, was a real celebration (with lots of balloons and soap bubbles to show for it).

Rajeev Khedkar, a SAS2 partner in India, recently completed a Certified SAS2 Introductory Workshop for staff of YUVA, a non-governmental organization based in Mumbai and supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). About 1,200 families in the Dharavi slum of Mumbai make small lamps for the Diwali festival, flower pots and different kinds of small pots for drinking water.