Browsing by Subject "Capacity building"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Building `capacity' for education research among scholars of the global South: Learning from the case of an international research collaboration in Tanzania
    (2013-07) Thomas, Matthew Aaron Martin
    This dissertation examines the process of engaging in transnational knowledge production vis-à-vis a case study of one research collaboration between scholars based in Tanzania and the United States. The Teaching in Action Research Project involved nine faculty based in Tanzania in an applied, multi-sited team ethnography that examined aspects of pedagogical practice in Tanzanian secondary schools. Its broad aim was to build the research capacity of these faculty at Mwenge University College of Education (MWUCE), a higher education institution in Tanzania that has experienced significant growth in recent years. Through this partnership, faculty and graduate students from the United States engaged with the faculty from Tanzania in a collaborative process of piloting and revising research instruments, collecting and analyzing data, and writing and publishing book chapters and journal articles based on this research collaboration. This study uses qualitative methods to explore how these faculty in Tanzania experienced this research collaboration. It examines their experiences with the collaborative research process, including their perceived benefits and challenges of participating. The dissertation also explores the issue of research capacity by investigating how MWUCE as an institution has sought to develop a robust research culture amidst substantial institutional expansion reflective of the broader higher education sector across much of sub-Saharan Africa. The findings suggest that faculty and institutions may face significant challenges to conducting and disseminating research, but that research capacity building initiatives, though not perfect, can serve as a means to involve faculty from Tanzania in scholarly activities that make meaningful contributions to extant research and also increase their capacity to conduct research.
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    Entrepreneurship for biodiversity conservation and sustainability transformation: a new frontier in Conservation Science and Practice
    (2022-10) Lobo, Diele
    Today’s increasing conservation challenges demand new approaches to thinking about and practicing conservation based on solving social problems. I advance understanding of one of such approaches -- Conservation Entrepreneurship, a practice still underexplored in the core conservation literature but that is rapidly growing in the real world and reimagining the conservation field. Based on literature review and evidence synthesis, this dissertation offers a tentative conceptual basis, organizing framework, and research agenda for conservation entrepreneurship research as an applied field of the conservation social sciences. Based on in-depth case study analyses of entrepreneurship cases in the UNESCO’s World Heritage Site Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil, this dissertation explores the role of entrepreneurial action in two longstanding areas of interest in the conservation field -- (i) transformative approaches to protected area management and (ii) ecosystem services provision – and offers four main contributions. First, it suggests practices for developing organizational and community capacity conducive to sustainability transformations in social-ecological systems where climatic shifts, poverty, governance challenges, and climate-sensitive livelihoods converge to exacerbate the vulnerability of the local communities to climate change. Second, it offers an analytical framework that can be used as a reflexive tool to enhance transparency in the design and implementation choices in entrepreneurship, capacity building, and community development practice for sustainability. Third, this study identifies individual-level factors that influence the recognition of opportunities for novel marketable ecosystem services. Lastly, it shows how entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is a key process for the provision of ecosystem services under climate and other environmental changes.
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    One coin, two sides: eliciting expert knowledge from training participants in a capacity-building program for veterinary professionals
    (2021-08) Adamchick, Julie; Perez Aguirreburualde, Maria Sol; Perez, Andres M.; O'Brien, Mary K.
    Scientific research may include the elicitation of judgment from non-academic subject-matter experts in order to improve the quality and/or impact of research studies. Elicitation of expert knowledge or judgment is used when data are missing, incomplete, or not representative for the specific setting and processes being studied. Rigorous methods are crucial to ensure robust study results, and yet the quality of the elicitation can be affected by a number of practical constraints, including the understanding that subject-matter experts have of the elicitation process itself. In this paper, we present a case of expert elicitation embedded within an extended training course for veterinary professionals as an example of overcoming these constraints. The coupling of the two activities enabled extended opportunities for training and a relationship of mutual respect to be the foundation for the elicitation process. In addition, the participatory research activities reinforced knowledge synthesis objectives of the educational program. Finally, the synergy between the two concurrent objectives may produce benefits which transcend either independent activity: solutions and ideas built by local professionals, evolving collaborative research and training approaches, and a network of diverse academic and practicing professionals. This approach has the versatility to be adapted to many training and research opportunities.
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    Proceedings: Cost Estimating and Cost Management Capacity Building Workshop
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2010-08) Center for Transportation Studies
    In this workshop, participants heard presentations from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and various state departments of transportation (DOTs) on the state of best practices in risk management and risk assessment. The event also featured small- and large-group discussions aimed at developing an action plan and research agenda by the event's end. This document summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop held August 11-13, 2010 in Minneapolis, MN.
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    Summary of Cost Estimating and Cost Management Capacity Building Workshops
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2008-09) Center for Transportation Studies
    This document summarizes the presentations and discussions from two workshops: Cost Estimating and Cost Management in the Planning Process Capacity Building Workshop was held in November 2007, and Cost Estimating and Cost Management in the Design and Project Development Process Capacity Building Workshop was held in April 2008. The workshops utilized the results of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 8-49 Project titled Procedures for Cost Estimation and Management for Highway Projects During Planning, Programming, and Preconstruction. The objectives of the workshops were 1) to build expertise and capacity for planning and engineering professionals to implement the NCHRP Report 574 guidebook on cost estimating and cost management; 2) to learn how states are moving forward with the implementation of the guidebook or or other initiatives related to cost estimating and cost management; and 3) to share advances and lessons learned from other states' initiatives on cost estimating.