Maximise your Fellowship
-
Dear fellow Fellows.... We’re almost six months into the fellowship, and I’ve been reflecting: beyond our division work and research projects, how can we make the most of this experience? What are some strategic ways to position ourselves for growth, networks, and impact during the rest of the year? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
-
From my perspective, it is first very important to highlight the valuable experience that ECA has allowed me to gain during these first six months, through the various projects I have been involved in. I believe that by continuing on this path, I will acquire the experience and skills necessary to join any other national or international institution. I also think that networking within the organization is not particularly difficult, given my experience working with several divisions and staff. From my interactions so far, I have realized that colleagues across divisions are very approachable and available. This makes it easier to engage with them in order to further enrich our experience, acquire new skills, and strengthen our professional networks.
I also believe that we still have much to learn during the remaining six months, and that this experience will be a valuable asset for our future careers.
-
ABNER Martha,Namibia,DES-PS Aside from our division work and research projects, I think it would be beneficial to form clusters of researchers working on similar themes. This could enable members to share opportunities, collaborate on developing funding proposals, and jointly implement different projects after this fellowship. I am open to collaborating with anyone working on issues related to agriculture and rural development, agri-food systems, food security, agroecology and food sovereignty, and ICT4D. I also have a particular interest in critical agrarian studies and minority studies. I study all these from sociological perspectives.
-
Wow ABNER Martha,Namibia,DES-PS, interesting question.
I think and propose that as fellows, we can have a weekly convening to share best practices based on past experiences to enhance work processes. For instance, a fellow can share a practical session on their experience. This would be a learning and sharing platform for us all. Here, we can address hiccups on day to day work and life shocks. It would be a platform to physically network.
We can also invite an individual to share their day in a life journey.
It is with such a platform that we can support divisions, sections, units develop or craft out proposals, concept notes, business plans, ideas to enhance programming.
