INFOCON newsletter # 3

Contents:

  1. Welcome to the about-once-a-month INFOCON newsletter
  2. INFOCON’s first work package deliverable
  3. Researchers met and discussed Great Lakes case sudy in Brussels
  4. INFOCON and DIASPEACE representatives met and discussed cooperation
  5. Other news

1. Welcome to the about-once-a-month INFOCON newsletter

Dear Colleague,

After the deserved summer holidays of many members of our team, the INFOCON newsletter is back.

The INFOCON Management Team wishes a nice return to work to everyone!

2. INFOCON’s first work package deliverable

Deliverable 1 entitled “Case Study Guidelines” constitutes the output of INFOCON’s first work package under the lead of the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL). Its overall objective is the creation of a common base of knowledge and research methods for a very diverse consortium. In the context of a team that is made up of CSO partners – partly representing opposed transnational communities – on the one hand, and researchers – specialised in a variety of disciplines – on the other, it is of special importance to create common terms of reference and guidelines for research. Therefore, work package 1 aims at the development of multi-disciplinary comparative methods involving a mixture of quantitative, qualitative and participatory approaches in order to produce (1) academically sound and policy relevant research results and (2) ensure the overall comparability of the selected case studies. During the first phase of the research project, the systematic collection of information on the Transnational Communities under examination both in their region of origin (Great Lakes region, Turkey and Kosovo) as well as in four European cities of settlement (Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels and London) stands at the centre of activity. The envisaged result is the production of seven case study reports on the three regions of origin and the four cities of settlement by the respective case specialists in the INFOCON team.

In order to ensure comparability but also the effective communication and dissemination of these case study reports, the research direction (UCL) set up case study guidelines. These guidelines – defining content, style, objectives and methodology for the seven case study reports – are presented in detail in Deliverable 1.

Jana Schildt

3. Researchers met and discussed Great Lakes case sudy in Brussels

Marieke Van Houte, from the Centre for International Development Issues – Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, came to Brussels the 22nd of August and met Jana Schildt (INFOCON research director assistant), Christiaan De Beule, from S.O.S. Rwanda-Burundi (CSO member of INFOCON consortium), Aggée Shyaka Mugabe, doctoral student at the Université Catholique de Louvain and teacher at National University of Rwanda, and Felippe Angeli (INFOCON Project Manager).

At the meeting, the field work in the Great Lakes region was discussed and the researcher from the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen collected important information with Christiaan and Aggée, who shared all their expertise on that region.

The Management Team would like to thank all colleagues who attended the meeting for their commitment.

4. INFOCON and DIASPEACE representatives met and discussed cooperation

The INFOCON assistant research director, its project manager and Julia Ojanen, from the sister project DIASPEACE, met recently in Brussels in order to discuss the promotion of some cooperation activities between the two research projects.

The main fields of cooperation that were discussed are related to dissemination activities, such as a joint newsletter and the organization of joint conferences in order to present the findings of both projects.

The INFOCON team welcomes the colleagues from DIASPEACE and waits for the progress of the discussion.

5. Other news

Andrea Bandelli, a member of the programme committee for the second African Science Communication Conference, which will be held in South Africa in February 2009, contacted the INFOCON Management Team and invited the INFOCON consortium members and other colleagues to attend the conference to illustrate and discuss with the participants the role of the social sciences and humanities research efforts in Africa, and also to provide their perspectives on the role of science and research in society. Full information about the conference, which is organized by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), an agency of the National Research Foundation (NRF), is available at http://www.saasta.ac.za/2ndascc/index.shtml. INFOCON consortium members who would be interested please contact the project manager, Felippe Angeli.

The European Commission is organizing the Goverscience CSO Seminar, a workshop which will discuss the dynamics of dialogue and cooperation between partners of different types. INFOCON’s CSO partners who wishe more information please contact the project manager.

On behalf of the INFOCON Management Team,

—

Felippe Angeli