Date and time: Thursday 24 October 2024, 12.00pm - 1.00pm NZDT
Topic: Empowering Communities: The Significance of Bottom-Up Indicators in Research
Presenters: Dr. Leslie MacColma and Zahrah Rizwan
Facilitator: Dr. Marie Nissanka
Venue: Via Zoom. Details will be emailed to registrants just prior to the start time
Register online by: Wednesday 23 October 2024

Event overview:

Everyday Peace Indicators (EPI) conducts participatory research and evaluation in partnership with communities affected by conflict and builds bridges between diverse actors working on peace and conflict issues to inform peacebuilding practice, policy, and scholarship. In 2019, EPI was contracted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to inform and evaluate the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) project in Sri Lanka. In this country, still struggling to recover from decades of civil war, EPI’s findings provided insights about how reconciliation is perceived and experienced at the grassroots level, across different regions and among different ethnic groups. Locally-generated indicators highlighted the multi-dimensional character of reconciliation and the critical intersection between peacebuilding and development, particularly in moments of acute economic suffering.

Presenter details:

Dr. Leslie MacColman is an applied social science researcher with a Ph.D. in Sociology and Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame. With a strong focus on rights, governance, and security, Dr. MacColman has collaborated with civil society organizations and governments in numerous countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia. From 2022 - 2024 she was the Research Coordinator for Everyday Peace Indicators (EPI) in Sri Lanka. She currently works as a Research Scientist in the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.

Zahrah Rizwan is a feminist researcher with extensive experience in non-profit project management and research. Her academic background encompasses Gender and Women's Studies, Business, and English Literature, providing a multidisciplinary foundation for her research endeavors. From 2022-2024, she served as the Lead Facilitator for Everyday Peace Indicators (EPI) in Sri Lanka. Ms. Rizwan is currently a doctoral student at The Ohio State University, where her work focuses on the intersections of gender, labour, and sexuality, with an emphasis on sex work and leisure economies.

This is a free event organised & hosted by the New Zealand Regional Network of the AES. Our seminar series provides an opportunity for you to meet with AES members and others in the evaluation community and to share and learn from the experiences of fellow evaluators.

This session will added to our YouTube channel approximately 4 weeks after it's recorded. Please subscribe to ensure you are notified when a new video is added.  

Presentation start times:

• New Zealand: 12.00pm

• VIC, NSW, ACT, TAS, QLD: 10.00am

• SA: 9.30am

• NT: 8.30am

• WA: 7.00am

For other time zones please go to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Please ensure you have access to your email address just prior to the start time to access Zoom details. Please also check your email address is correct on your registration form before submitting. Thanks.