Inception workshop

In November 2003 an inception workshop was held in Norwich (UK), formally marking the start of the Disability Knowledge and Research Programme.

The two-day workshop provided the first formal opportunity for people to meet, exchange ideas and develop a real sense of involvement.

Representatives of the projects, the management team, and the Overseas Development Group (ODG) took part 14 delegates in total. Their diverse backgrounds encouraged a lively exchange of ideas in an atmosphere that facilitator Ailish Byrne described as high-energy . Networking and the enhancement of mutual understanding were key goals. The focus was placed on communication strategies, effective ways to communicate lessons learned, and the measurement of impact.

The workshop had a participatory style, with an emphasis on active group work; one participant commented: I like the interactive and fluid approach in which people's opinions are constantly valued.

Coherence
KaR Programme Director Roger Drew emphasised the need to form a coherent programme, by combining the different elements policy, , disability equality training, research and the projects themselves.

Drew highlighted the challenges that face all involved, including: the need to illustrate links between disability and poverty and contribute this to the evidence base; to actively inform developments in DFID's disability-related policy and practice; and to communicate lessons learned effectively and strategically.

Five of the six funded projects gave presentations (the sixth was unable to attend) and a number of common themes and principles emerged. These included poverty reduction, rights-based approaches, inclusion and empowerment, accessibility enhancement, capacity development, information and knowledge sharing, and skills development. The participants showed a shared social (rather than medical) understanding and approach to disability.

There was also an underlying emphasis on enhancing the livelihoods of poor and disabled people through innovative, practical and transferable low-cost technologies and approaches. The participants showed commitment to working with rather than for people with disabilities.

Communication and impact
Day One focused on communication strategies, led by Andrew Chetley, the programme's Knowledge and Communications Manager. His message was that communicating is as important as doing.

The groups considered a series of who-why-what-how-when-where questions in relation to their own communication strategies, using the main lessons they wish to communicate as a basis. The implications for the programme's own communication strategy were addressed too.

The second day was dedicated to assessing and demonstrating impact. KaR Adviser David Seddon of ODG emphasised the importance of feeding the findings from all the projects into the programme's research agenda. Don Brown of Information, Training and Development (ITAD) then focused on assessing impact and outcomes using logical frameworks. He stressed the need to demonstrate how the projects will contribute to the reduction of poverty. One participant said the session had created a much better understanding of the way things work and how projects fit into the programme .

Conclusions
The participants seemed to value the opportunity to meet and work collaboratively at an early stage in the programme. One said: It is useful to know what other projects aim to achieve and to better understand the goals of the programme as a whole. The workshop's participatory approach prompted comments such as: it was good to interact and link together , and swapping ideas was very valuable .

The participants left Norwich with enthusiasm for the programme, and keen to take part in further collaborative reflection and review events in the future.