Door Madelon Eelderink Mensen vragen me vaak: “Hoe krijg ik mensen gemotiveerd om mee te doen met mijn project?” “Hoe creëer ik draagvlak?” Ik wou dat ik hen een magnefiek antwoord kan geven, zo een van: ‘oh doe gewoon dit en dan heb je...
Corona daagt ons uit in onze actieonderzoeken. Met name als we focusgroepen willen faciliteren, waarbij meerdere mensen dus bij elkaar komen, lopen we tegen allerlei uitdagingen aan. Gelukkig hebben we het wereldwijde web, dat ons in staat stelt om op afstand toch in groepen...
De burger centraal “De oplossing zoeken tussen de financiële kaders, in de samenwerking” Wilma van der Vlegel (52) is er stellig over: oplossingen voor zorg en welzijn beginnen niet in een ziekenhuis, maar in de wijk. “Juist dáár kun je mensen in beweging brengen...
Participatief Actieonderzoek (PAO) is een benadering die mensen in staat stelt met elkaar complexe problemen in hun dagelijks (werk)leven aan te pakken op een manier die bij hen past. Maar wat als we door corona niet bij elkaar kunnen komen? Kunnen we dan nog...
Looking for solutions together with the community “Just the right balance between science and practice!” Alice Grasveld is what you call a centipede. She is an independent dental hygienist, medical anthropologist and teacher. She combines all this with various oral care projects in developing...
Van de ene op de andere dag stopten voor mij de trainingen actieonderzoek die ik bijna dagelijks gaf, toen de corona-maatregelen kwamen. Van Kerkrade en Sittard tot Brielle en Westvoorne, en van Eindhoven tot Den Haag en van alles daartussen, ik sjeesde het hele...
Om te komen tot een mooi actieplan met je PAO-deelnemers -om een vraagstuk met elkaar aan te pakken- zijn vaak meerdere focusgroepen nodig. Hoe zorgen we er als Participatief Actieonderzoekers voor dat deelnemers tot een geslaagd actieplan komen, waar zij eigenaarschap over voelen en...
Finally – it’s here! By the end of January the manual Participatory Action Research – Working together for a better world – was finally published, by SWP Publisher in Amsterdam. The manual, written by Madelon Eelderink, founder of 7Senses, offers practical guidelines for the...
We’ve just ended a decennium… Thinking about it, I see myself back at the beginning of the ‘10’s’ in Cameroon, where I coordinated a few projects for a Dutch ngo. One of those was a water project, installing a waterpump in a small village...
Hoe los je sociale problemen op? Dat is de vraag die ik hoopte te kunnen beantwoorden na een dagje meelopen met een training van 7Senses. Na een mailtje gestuurd te hebben naar Madelon werd ik uitgenodigd om mee te lopen op een van haar...
By Julia Ertl, May 10th 2019 My last week of action research here in Lesvos, Greece started today! My action research focuses on the question: How can refugees visiting and working in the community center ‘One Happy Family’ feel more included and comfortable at...
The Agnites Vrolik Award 2018 is an initiative of UtrechtUniversity to reward the one who’s (scientific) work has the most impact on society. The prize: €25.000,- to be spent on science. 7Senses Founder Madelon Eelderink is nominated for this award! The award will be given out on...
Gastblog door Geertje Lavrijssen, Challenge Coordinator van de Sustainable Tourism Challenge Het is tweede kerstdag en we naderen het eind van 2018, een tijd om terug te blikken op het afgelopen jaar en de activiteiten en gebeurtenissen die hebben mogen plaatsvinden op gebied van duurzaam toerisme....
Gastblog van Bas Rosenbrand Soms komen de antwoorden gewoon op je pad. In dit geval was het antwoord: Madelon en actieonderzoek. Het begon vorig jaar, toen we landelijke en lokale verkiezingen hadden. Ik stem meestal niet. Niet omdat ik tegen democratie ben, maar omdat ik...
Ik krijg ontzettend vaak de vraag: hoe krijg ik de bevolking of de doelgroep mee in mijn project? Als burgerparticipatie nastrevende gemeente is dat vaak echt een dingetje. Ook hoor ik vaak dat pogingen van de gemeente om burgers aan te laten haken bij...
Toen ik voor het eerst actieonderzoek deed in een afgelegen dorp in Guatemala, had ik geen idee dat ik 10 jaar later in mijn eigen organisatie actieonderzoek op allerlei thema’s zou doen. Van volksgezondheid tot armoedeproblematiek, en van human rights tot natuurbescherming. Alles komt...
Rhani Berest and Friederike Ertmer graduated from The 7Senses Academy! These two awesome ladies finished with success our General Participatory Action Research Course and internship with elderly in Utrecht. Both Rhani (left) and Friederike (right) have followed intensive PAR trainings and were fast learners....
Het is tijd. Wil en ik zitten klaar voor de focusgroep die vermoedelijk over het buurthuis zal gaan, maar niets is zeker in actieonderzoek. Ik betrap mezelf op klamme handjes en klots-oksels. Voor het eerst in mijn actieonderzoekersbestaan leid ik een focusgroep met tienerjongens...
I jumped on Asuman’s ‘boda boda’ as if the last time I sat on such Ugandan motorbike was just yesterday. He brought me straight to the hectic center of Kampala, where I was going to meet Dan Sentamu to evaluate the outcome of the...
By Carine Rozema and Laetitia Simorangkir It has been a while, but even though we are back in the Netherlands for four weeks already, we are still thinking about our adventure on a daily base. In this blog a description of the last event...
Getting started week 1 & 2: I thought it is time to give you all an update on how the Sustainable Tourism Challenge has been going so far! Time is flying by and we are already halfway down the Challenge programme in Zambia. Arrival...
By Carine Rozema For me personally, adolescents are the people that I love working with the most. These young individuals are the future. The ones that will rise up and take their place in society within the next couple of years, the upcoming decade....
By Irmarie Luijk-de Visser. Only two weeks left. Wait, what?! When I became aware of the fact that there were only two weeks left to complete our research, I suddenly felt that we hadn’t come far at all. I thought by myself, we’ve been here...
In early 2017, the researchers and I were busy collecting data for the challenge in Kisii. I felt the same excitement and sense of curiosity that motivated the previous Female Rights Challenge, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was mesmerizing to learn something new every...
“Does anyone have any questions for now?” I asked at the end of my ‘speech’ about the research plan and the goal of the Father Involvement Challenge. “I do!”, one of the community leaders replied. “You said you were here two years ago for...
On November 27th, Seats2Meet celebrated its 10th anniversary. This day was celebrated with all kind of activities aimed at the rapidly changing and dynamic society and connect each other’s networks more intensively. One of the activities was a pitch contest in which you had...
Alice Grasveld’s Healthy Teeth Challenge won the AUV-alumni prize 2017! She and her team co-created and implemented together with local people in Mfuleni slum, Cape Town a programme to sustainably improve oral health for kids, thereby improving school enrollment and -performance. I had the...
This article written by Correspondent’s Tamar Stelling about the root cause of today’s global wicked problems really shocked me. The situation is even worse than I thought! We all know the oceans are not doing very well lately. The plastic soup, overfishing, oil spills,...
What seemed so far away back in summer 2016 when I did action research on Saba, has come close with the blink of an eye. Through action research, fishermen had co-created a seasoning system for the endangered redfish; on the 1st of April 2017...
After one month in Kisii, the interviews during the Women Empowerment Challenge are progressing well. We are learning a lot from the interviews. One lesson is that both men and women are being empowered through community Self Help Groups. We are also learning a...
Here I am, in Kisii, Kenya, working on an issue that everyone agrees is important, but no one seems able to define: “Women Empowerment”. What is Women Empowerment? English-language dictionaries equate “empowerment” with liberation, emancipation, inspiration, encouragement, confidence-building and equality. Bilingual dictionaries, however, often...
7Senses strongly believes that Participatory Action Research (PAR) increases the quality of development cooperation worldwide. PAR adapts to any local situation, empowering communities to tackle their most pressing issues ‘community up’. Let us show you the five most significant differences between traditional forms of top-down...
Phyllis Livaha is Coordinator of the Female Rights Challenge in Kenya. She conducts PAR for her PhD at the Erasmus University College. For 7Senses she writes blogs about the progress of the project. It’s only been a month since we wrapped...
7Senses and sharks. Who would have ever seen the link? Ron van der Veer from the Dutch Council of State saw it a few months ago. He is involved in the Save Our Sharks project in the Caribbean, sponsored by the Dutch Postcodeloterij. It’s...
I often get the question what Participatory Action Research (PAR) actually entails. “Research, so you are going to collect data and deliver a report to get dusty on a shelf?” “Action, so you are going on the streets for a strike to protest with...
Phyllis Livaha is Coordinator of the Female Rights Challenge in Kenya. She conducts PAR for her PhD at the Erasmus University College. For 7Senses she writes blogs about the progress of the project. Where Does the Time Go? Wow! It feels...
Phyllis Livaha is Coordinator of the Female Rights Challenge in Kenya. She conducts PAR for her PhD at the Erasmus University College. For 7Senses she writes blogs about the progress of the project. ‘Never say never’ is her very first blog. Read more about...
Vera van Rijn, participant of the Healthy Cooking Challenge, pitched the project that was developed out of this Challenge, an action research conducted during summer 2015 in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. The project already made remarkable results, now sealed with the Albert Schweitzer...
Recently I received an email from Vera van Rijn, one of the researchers of the Healthy Cooking Challenge: “Improved cooking shelters! With a system to catch rainwater and purify water, how brilliant!” She had just received an email from a local partner: new...
I know how hard it can be to find a job in the development sector. During and after my study International Public Health I wrote apply letter after apply letter, no success… There were too little jobs and way too many people applying for...
It’s hard sometimes, you know. Each day at 17.00 o’clock, they are forced to sweep me out with the rest of the rubbish. I can’t blame them. I’m part of the furniture nowadays. This morning at the reception they even said they could hear me coming in...
Tuesday, August 11th 2015. A group of brilliant minds discovers how to make the 7Senses Action Research Academy a great succes, for the first edition ánd for the future! Ruud Koornstra (sustainable entrepreneur and founder of Tendris), Sabijn Timmers (Board of Directors, Triodos Bank), André...
You’ve collected a crazy load of information during your in-depth interviews. Great. But what’s next? From your research supervisor or boss you are expected to do something with that data. But how to get from such a data overload to a good conclusion? Here’s...
Imagine, someone knocks on the door. It’s a person you have never seen before. Different skin colour, different clothes, different hair, funny accent… He says he wants to interview you about your daily life, for some sort of research. Kind and welcoming as you...