I begin this short paper with two caveats. Firstly, I must make it very clear that this is not the result of rigorous research. It is not even a comprehensive overview of what International Volunteer Co-operation Organisations (IVCOs) are doing in the areas of ‘development education’, public engagement and public policy advocacy1 – though in preparing the paper, it struck me that a more thorough inventory might be a useful contribution by FORUM – to document and share what is being done in these areas. Researched and written in three weeks, this is simply one person’s observations, based on conversations with fifteen IVCO leaders, augmented by a few days of internet research and reading2, and 30 plus years of experience that has brought me back to these issues of “global citizenship” at regular intervals, in both my community and working life (which began as a CUSO volunteer in Papua New Guinea in 1970).
FORUM Discussion Paper 2007
Public Engagement