CONFERENCE

A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION:
“MAKING A DIFFERENT SOCIETY FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW”

Rationale
VBNK’S 10th anniversary conference in 2007, “an intergenerational dialogue”, highlighted critical social issues such as education, morality, domestic violence, drugs and poverty that are of great concern in Cambodian society today.  The participants suggested having a follow up conference to review those issues in more depth and to explore ways to work together to a better Cambodian society now and in the future.

Aim
To bring together community members, development practitioners, local authority and government officers from different age groups and working experiences to review Cambodian history and society, highlight the major social issues in different stages or regimes of history, and explore what individuals can contribute towards addressing those issues and making a different society for today and tomorrow.

Objectives
By the end of the conference participants will have:

• Had the opportunity to discuss and recall critical Cambodian social events within their life experience (from past to present)
• Envisioned the Cambodian society they want to see in the future (beyond 2015)
• Identified what each can contribute (from today) to achieving the vision. (Or: identified what each can contribute to making a different in today society toward the vision.) 

Methods

• Café discussion
• Drawing
• Group discussion
• Journaling

• Education
• Morality
• Domestic violence
• Drugs
• Poverty
• And whatever else emerges from the discussions

LOGISTIC INFORMATION

Date and venue
The conference will be held over three days, 24 to 26th June 2008, at Stoeung Sen restaurant, Serey Sophorn district, Beanteay Meanchey province. Participants from outside Serey Sophorn will be expected to travel to provincial town on 23rd June to be available for an 8 a.m. start on the first day of the conference. VBNK will cover transportation, accommodation and per diem costs for those travelling from outside Serey Sophorn.

Participants

• Will be up to 100 people of different ages from 15 to 70+ years
• Will be clustered into 3 main age groups as follows:
  Group A: the young people aged 15 to 29, born between 1979 and 1993
  Group B: those in the middle years aged 30 to 53, born between 1955 and 1978
  Group C: the older generations aged 54 and over, born before 1954
• Will be community members, social development practitioners, local authority and government officers.
• Will come from provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Oddar Meanchey, Siem Reap, Pailin and Pursat

Language
The working language of the conference will be Khmer.

Information
For further information please contact the VBNK Training Administrator on 023 722 115
E-mail:registration@vbnk.org

Click here to download VBNK_Conference_2008_in_Khmer