Aidnography

Hello all! It turns out that th is week's link review focuses on academi c debates and a few 'me ta' discussion s of what it means to engage with 'development'. The discussions around J . 's reflections on a 'collective humanit arian consciousness' and a piece on the dilemmas around 'being there' for journalists and diplomats are highly recommended readings. Altho u gh filed under Academi a, 'Trusting your creati ve self ' is not just limited to the processes of academic writing and asks bro ader questions on how the powerful institutions that surround us everyday have an impact on creati vity. There's more good stuff on opening up anthropology as well as the promises, challen ges and pi tfalls on virtual education on humanities and social scien ces - just to name a few highlights ;)! An interesting observation on engaging with the material that does or does not make into my link review: I came across a few interesting-looking

Two recent news items related to unarmed aerial vehicles (UAV) in the context of security and development caught my eyes: First, the UN announced that they are looking into using UAVs to gather information in the DR Congo ( UN wants to use drones in DR Congo conflict ), although the AFP-piece is much more nuanced than the catchy headline suggests. And today I came across another piece reporting that Google’s Global Impact Award will be funding a pilot project of the WWF to use ‘sophisticated radio-controlled devices like hobbyists use’ in helping to ‘stop wildlife crimes’, in particular rhino poachers in a variety of places in Asia and Africa. T he UN is explicitly talking about ‘drones for monitoring’ and the WWF has even started a website about their ‘ conservation drones ’ with the catchy tag-line ‘now everyone can drone’. But this is not simply about semantics. Taken at face value, these developments look like an innovative use of technology for a greater good, potentially savi

H ello all! There are no signs of a pre-holiday slowdown when it comes to interesting stuff on development and academia! If you haven't done yet, I suggest my interview with Kate Flynn on European aid in Cyprus as an addition to your reading list. Brazilian engagement in Mozambique, and almost too detailed ironic take on 'Radi-Aid' ; plus new research on how human rights NGOs can tangibly influence policy-making. There's also a nice '2.0' section data journalism in Africa and incubators . In the academic section more on the eternal quest of who should get a PhD, why and how and an interesting example that science and advocacy don't mix well... Enjoy! New on aidnography A consultant speaks out on the donor economy in Cyprus-Interview with Kate Flynn My interview with Kate Flynn on speaking out as a development consultant on European aid in Cyprus, the power of traditional news media & the challenges for critical academics in the UK. Development Aid agen

My i nterview with Kate Flynn o n speaking out as a development consultant on European aid in Cyprus, the pow er of traditional news media & the challenges for critical academics in the UK. A few weeks ago, I came across a critical article on E U aid in Cyprus ( European aid: sleepy island in an aid cash row ) and how my colleague Kate Flynn spoke out about her work as a consultant. She was also featured in an interesting follow-up article with a newspaper in Cyprus ( Academics question point of EU funding for peace ). It all starte d with her report for the European Commission I recently caught up with Kate on Skype for a short interview to discuss some of the broader issues surrounding her public ‘whistle-blowing’ on the 'unco ordinated donor economy' on the island. TD: For many people who know about the aid industry your report wasn’t really ground-breaking. But I kept wondering why we don’t read these articles more often? Why am I still being surprised if an aca

Hello all, This week's links focus is on a slightly broader range of development-related topics from fight ing censorship t o unpaid care-giving, a nother new development professional network, Canada's policy shift to 'mining for pea ce an d prosperity' (actua l title of the policy document may be different), foreign policy lobbying in the U.S. , a slightly unsatisfying TedX talk on listening, how the Avon model is re inv ented in devel oping countries , the burning question of what consultant s do (' fifty percent of the job is nodding your head at whatever’s being said, thirty percent of it is just sort of looking good, and the other twenty percent is raising an objection but then if you meet resistance, then dropping it'). ...and L-O-V-E ;)! Enjoy! New on aidnography Book review: The Golden Fleece-Manipulation & Independence in Humanitarian Action Development We Fight Censorship WeFightCensorship.org (WeFC) is a Reporters Without Borders project tha