Public views matter
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:15:00 BST
A public engagement was held by the GDRC on: “Building sustainable disaster resilient communities” with the support of the Urban Council, Trincomalee on the 13th July 2016 at Trincomalee Urban Council premises.
Photo: a section of the participants
It helped the GDRC team to bring researchers and the public together and it was more than just meeting an audience and telling them about our research, and it was researchers listening to and learning from participants. In this way, we managed to engage ‘non-specialists’ including members of the public within our work and they engaged in the discussions “as researchers” in a highly participatory way in shaping research priorities and directions.
These direct input from non academic community brought a new light by taking into account not only academic knowledge but also knowledge and practices from several populations/communities affected by disasters within the Eastern province of Sri Lanka by means of collecting new insights, and also bringing the topic into the public debate.
Photo: group work
It was all about conversation rather than mere dissemination with the intention was to share knowledge, expertise and experiences.
Photo: Ms Hemanthi Gooneskekera, National Coordinator, Federation of Sri Lankan Local Government Authorities led the discussion
