Cape Town 2014

Read the full version of the CORD Workshop Cape Town Report, 2014

Workshop Rationale

The CORD Cape Town workshop took place over a period of five days, beginning on Friday, May 9th 2014 and ending on Tuesday, May 13th 2014. IDRC has generously financed three of CORD’s major workshops including the first in Toronto in May 2012, the second in Delhi in December 2012 (TTI Matching Funds grant) and, most recently, in Cape Town in May 2014 (TTI Matching Funds Follow-up grant).

The main focus of the May 2014 workshop in Cape Town was to develop greater clarity around CORD’s governance and mission, while integrating new TTI partners into new and existing activities of the network’s working groups. Current CORD working groups include:

  1. Knowledge, Technology and Democracy
  2. Activists, Institutions and Change
  3. Economic and Political Citizenship
  4. Marginalization and Social Service Provision
  5. Urban Peace Building

The newly solidified mission of the network is “to contribute to inclusive citizenship and democratic governance through collaborative, applied research.”


Overview of Workshop Goals & Activities

The core goals and activities of the Cape Town workshop were as follows:

  1. To co-design and solidify CORD’s mission statement and approach to working as a network
  2. To present CORD’s newly designed e-platform, through which the network can now host e-dialogues between workshops as well as provide a space for CORD working groups to collaborate  (www.cordnetwork.org)
  3. To re-visit the question of CORD’s  governing structures, including criteria for new membership and the selection of a new Coordinator for the next two years
  4. To share and seek feedback on research methodologies used by CORD members
  5. To develop new milestones and action items for each of CORD’s Working Groups, including the development of grant proposals, as necessary
  6. To integrate visiting TTI partners into the network and to develop priorities for ways of working collaboratively


Workshop Methodology & Approach

As a network studying themes of democracy and citizenship around the world, CORD values modes of collaboration that are horizontal and participatory in their approach, and which seek to include the voices of all members present. With this in mind, some of the ways of working throughout the workshop included:

  • “Low-tech” wikis, to co-design CORD’s mission statement and values as a network
  • Online etherpad applications during working-group discussions, so that all members could work collectively to contribute to the same online document.
  • The interactive sharing of research methods and best practices through powerpoint and video presentations, followed by a question and answer period for the larger group
  • Small and large group discussions on what it means to be a “Citizen” of CORD, and how this should impact our activities and ways of working
  • An informal networking event with local organisations in Cape Town, to strengthen CORD’s international identity and reach as a network