8th World Congress of Action Learning and Action Research

Melbourne, Australia
September 6-9, 2010

All Action Research and Action Learning practitioners and academics from around the world are invited to the 8th World Congress of Action Learning and Action Research being held from September 6th through 9th this year in Melbourne, Australia, preceded by two days of practitioner workshops. Share a paper, lead a workshop, run a poster session or simply come along as a member of the global action learning and/or action research community!

Whether your interest is (social) ecology, education, community / international / organisational / personal development, welfare and wellbeing, organisational and social systems, indigenous peoples, inter-cultural work or other aspects of action learning / action research and practice, there is a place for you at the World Congress. Bring along colleagues as well!

The major themes that will guide the congress are:

• Philosophical foundations of action-based and participatory approaches to learning and research
• Our stories of integrating action-learning / action-research practice with theory and/or our theoretical learning and insights with practice
• Power and its presence in learning and research relationships
• Perennial issues of methodology, methods, epistemology and ontology in action learning, action research and participatory action research

Keynote speakers include:

• Budd Hall, a global elder of participatory research and adult learning. He is currently Director of the Office of Community-based Research at the University of Victoria, Canada.
• Linda Tuhiwai Smith, an internationally renowned researcher in indigenous education and decolonizing our research methodologies. She is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Maori) at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
• Alan Rayner, a biological scientist, ecological philosopher, artist, writer and key proponent of living theory and inclusionality. He is a Reader in Biology at the University of Bath, England.
• Yoland Wadsworth, an Australian pioneer in the use of integral and transformative social research methodologies. She is Associate Professor, Population Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Express your interest in participating by sending an abstract for a paper, workshop, poster session or a catalyst session to alara@borderlands.org.au now.

The congress will be preceded by two days of practitioner workshops. Online registration for the congress or pre-congress workshops will open soon. In the meantime, please feel free to email alara@borderlands.org.au today to ensure you are notified when registration begins or to get further information.

I hope we can share ‘learning-full’ conversations at the Congress! See you then?!

For further information, contact:

Dr. Tricia Hiley
Oases Graduate School,
on behalf of ALARA World Congress Organising Committee
+61 (0)412 312 881 or alara@borderlands.org.au