REMOTE VOLUNTEERING

‘Fostering International R4D collaboration in a COVID-19 world’

On 19 October 2020, six Australian volunteers and five Vietnamese researchers (EMCRs) will embark on a five-week online workshop to strengthen research, leadership and management skills in agricultural research and development. Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID network) and the Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) have developed a strong partnership over the last year and hope this online workshop can be followed by an in-person activity when travel is possible. Across the five weeks, the participants will attend three workshop presentations each week discussing a range of critical research topics, as well as work through seven fictional scenarios. These scenarios will challenge the researchers on how they might put theory into practice in a post-COVID-19 world.

Through the Australian Volunteers Program, six Australian volunteers will be partnered with a research counterpart in Vietnam to work through scenarios and research problems. This engaging and interactive workshop, run by the University of Melbourne and gratefully funded by the Crawford Fund, will work through the core research steps required within agriculture and development including designing surveys, tools for data collection, managing community engagement, and data visualisation.

Workshop participants have a range of experiences in agriculture and international development, from economics to animal science to horticulture.

Hosting this workshop remotely has opened this opportunity to a diverse cohort of early-career researchers. This diversity enables exciting multidisciplinary approaches to problem-solving.

The Australian volunteers working on this project are: Anh Pham, Megan Williams, Camilla Jane Humphries, Jessica Fearnley, John Otto and Sally Jesmilly Molero Obegon.

The Vietnamese researchers working on this project are: Tran The Cuong, Vang A Me, Do My Hanh, Nguyen Thi Phuong and Le Trang.

These participants were chosen based on their understanding of agricultural research processes, skills and passion for agricultural international development.

Australian volunteer Anh, Senior Research Support Coordinator, brings a wealth of experience to the table, including strong Vietnamese and English language skills. All Australian volunteers participating in the workshop will have access to language and cultural awareness activities.

The Australian Volunteers Program, VNUA and RAID have worked closely the past few months to bring together new and exciting ways to experience volunteering in a COVID-19 world.

We are really excited for this workshop and will keep you updated on our social media throughout.

For more information and further updates, contact Mia Dunphy at m.dunphy@unimelb.edu.au

RAID Network is a program of the Crawford Fund and is supported with funding from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).