Global Engagement Strategy

Driven by a desire to apply lessons learned at the local level to a global context, discussions around CESI's Global Engagement Strategy began in 2013 out of the work to create a Vision for a School for Civil Society. Currently being piloted, this strategy builds on the University of Guelph's history of international research and programs, and increase the permeability between the university and global communities.

Core values and principles of the strategy include:

• Engagement and research with, not on communities
• Creation of a space for constructive dialogue
• Equal respect for academic and community experience
• Collaborative exchange to inform and transform
• Active learning and participation

Prior to developing a Global Engagement Strategy, CESI contributed to organizing punctual  activities related to international engagement. Examples include:

Interdisciplinary Field School in Global Community Engagement: Pathologies of Power in Guatemala

Co-ordinated and developed by CESI Faculty Affiliate Candace Johnson, the interdisciplinary field school in global community engagement took place in spring 2015. This intensive course focused on human rights, strategies of community activism and resistance, North-South solidarity politics, corporate accountability, criminal justice, environmental issues, natural resource management, and international development in Guatemala. Students split their time between in-classroom learning in Guelph and travelling through Guatemala on an educational seminar.

Visit the Centre for International Programs website for more information.

Human and Environmental Justice in Guatemala Conference

Held in November 2014, this three-day conference reflected the University of Guelph's long-standing research commitment to and interest in Guatemala. It included screenings of two films accompanied by expert commentary, as well as a panel discussion on the implementation of justice in the aftermath of a civil war and the conservation of the physical environment in Guatemala. Panel speakers included Claudia Paz y Paz, former Attorney General of Guatemala, Kirsen Weld, professor of History at Harvard University, and Magali Rey Rosa, environmental columnist at Prensa Libre newspaper.

This conference was presented by CESI with support from International Development Studies, Initiatives in Global Justice, the Department of Political Science, and the School of Languages and Literature at the University of Guelph.