From child labour to peacebuilding, some of today’s most urgent development challenges are also the most resistant to conventional programming, demanding approaches that can work with complexity at scale. Join us for the launch of The Practice of Systemic Action Research: Igniting Systemic Change Through Participatory Action (Policy Press), by Danny Burns and Marina Apgar.
Drawing on more than 20 years of implementation of large-scale Systemic Action Research (SAR) programmes worldwide. Including detailed cases of two programmes IDS led or collaborated on: CLARISSA on the worst forms of child labour in Bangladesh and Nepal, and the Vestibule de la Paix peacebuilding programme in Mali, the book sets out how systems thinking, complexity theory, and participatory practice can be combined to design, facilitate, and evaluate change processes that engage large numbers of system actors as agents of change.
In this launch event we hope to dialogue with development researchers, practitioners, and funders committed to large-scale social transformation to explore what it takes to move participatory action research from localised impact to systemic change, and, what this means for how we design, resource, and evaluate programmes tackling complex development challenges.
Speakers
- Danny Burns was until 2024 Professor at the Institute of Development Studies. He is now an activist, writer, and facilitator focusing on progressive social change.
- Marina Apgar is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Knowledge, Technology, Power and Participatory research department at the Institute of Development Studies.
Co-Chairs
- Mariah Cannon, IDS Researcher
- Mieke Snijder, IDS Research Fellow
How to attend
You can attend in person without registering, however we will also be streaming online on Zoom.
Accessiblity
This event will take place in the IDS Convening Space which is on the 1st floor of the IDS Building. If you need to use the lift then press floor 1A.
If you have any accessbility requrements, then email events@ids.ac.uk or visit this page.