Workshop: “Towards a research agenda on Science, Society, and Peace Building in Colombia”

The Colombo-German Institute for Peace – CAPAZ, the Externado School of Finance, Government and International Relations Center for Research and Special Projects (CIPE), and the Thinking, Governance and Knowledge Management, Science, Technology, and Innovation Network (GCTI) invite to participate in this workshop December 10 and 11, 2018.

After the signing of the Final Agreement, in Havana, between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP guerrilla, the relationship between scientific knowledge, peacebuilding, and socio-economic development emerges as a priority item on the national public agenda.

There are different entry points to address this relationship. On the one hand, it can be a vertical approach, in which the production of scientific knowledge is the basis for the socio-economic development of an inclusive society and entitled to better well-being. On the other hand, a horizontal, systemic, approach, where knowledge and other social organizations/ communities’ know-how become important for the resolution of problems posed by science itself and claimed by peace.

In general, the scientific community and society assume knowledge contributes to the construction of peace. However, codes, tensions, flows, and impacts in this relationship are not always obvious, and vary according to the different actors, the reference disciplines, and the social fields involved. In this sense, it is essential to update the discussion to locate background references on how they are developed and which elements are key for the governance of knowledge, science, and innovation in the peace transition specific context.

The Colombo-German Institute for Peace – CAPAZ, the Externado School of Finance, Government and International Relations Center for Research and Special Projects (CIPE), and the Thinking, Governance and Knowledge Management, Science, Technology, and Innovation Network (GCTI) are committed to this reflection and join efforts to promote relevant academic research and the learning of policies on the relationship between scientific knowledge, society, and peace-building.

Objectives

· Identify problems, approaches, relevant issues, and empirical objects in ongoing or under development research enabling to increase the understanding of the relationship between the production of scientific knowledge, society, and peace-building.

· Promote the development of Master’s or PhD research relating to the relationship between scientific knowledge, society, and peace-building.

· Delve into the detailed understanding of phenomena occurring in the multi-actor and multi-tiered interactions surrounding the production of scientific knowledge, production of knowledge based on society, and regional peace.

· Consolidate an academic network on science and peace in Colombia issues, anchored on the establishment of a research, dissemination, and publications agenda to be developed in 2019 and 2020 with the participants.

Thematic approach

The event seeks to identify works/research in progress or to be developed that analyze the relationship between science, society, and peacebuilding, preferably on works rooted in empirical evidence and/or original reflection. The collection is searching for a substantial look at the key challenges of governance of knowledge, science, and technology in the peace transition context. The call is carried out with a view to the publication of a compendium of the specific topic. Some topics of interest could be (but not limited to):

· The relationship between scientific knowledge and local knowledge (traditional, other) for the resolution of problems related to the construction of peace.

· Agency, structures, epistemic diversity, roles, and tensions in multi-actor peace collaborations.

· Aspects, inter, trans, and multi-disciplinary on the relationship between knowledge production and peace-building.

Requirements · Complete the application form found here:

· Submit a document, maximum 1,000 (one thousand) words, explaining the research in progress or planning to carry out.

· Send a current résumé – three (3) pages maximum.

· The required documents must be sent in a single PDF file, no later than Thursday, November 29, 2018, to email convocatorias@instituto-capaz.org with the subject: “Call for workshop on scientific knowledge, society, and peace-building.” Applications received after the deadline or not complying with the requirements stated above will not be considered.

Financing

The workshop has space for 20 participants. The CAPAZ Institute will grant up to five scholarships (transportation and accommodation) to researchers selected who reside outside Bogotá.