Knowledge Transfer and Cultural Context
September 12, 2013 | 17:00 h - 18:30 h
Public lecture with Dirk Tänzler. Dirk Tänzler is a Professor at the Institute for Political Science and Sociology at the University of Bonn. The talk will be given during the conference "Agricultural knowledge and knowledge systems in post-Soviet societies". Find more information on the conference here.
Abstract:
Knowledge transfer is a core element of the Knowledge Society. In the Global Age there is a search for new practices of sharing knowledge on intercultural communication. In this talk, the speaker will present experiences, findings and recommendations from the "Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres" (ALAC)-project that was funded by the European Commission and implemented in cooperation with Transparency International, the well-known global anti-corruption network.
The ALAC-project generates better scientific knowledge and a “best practice”-model of civil society activities in the anti-corruption coalition and beyond. With a focus on Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres, the research project aims at a) enhancing civil society participation, b) raising anti-corruption effectiveness and c) developing advocacy for legal change at the national and EU levels.
Based on the insight that citizens’ participation and the values of integrity, accountability and transparency are crucial components of fighting corruption the project promotes the ALACs both as a management tool of ‘bottom-up’ anti-corruption work and citizens’ participation mechanism. The goal of developing an advanced ALAC-methodology as a new model for co-operation between citizens, CSOs and researchers is to devise policies that raise the level of citizens’ participation and empowerment. Combining action-research and practical implementation the project – itself designed as a process of organisational learning – had a direct impact on the work of Transparency International and its partner organisations in Europe and all over the world.
Civil society is one crucial pillar of social change and transition. The implementation of capitalism and democracy fails without the involvement and engagement of the citizens on the basis of a shared culture.
