The Social Movements session was excellent: clear presentation, relevant, challenging and 'new perspective'.
Feedback from participant at the May 2008 Forum.

Previous research forums

May 2010 Forum - Report, executive summary and papers available 

The forum covered the themes of 'Monitoring and Evaluation' and 'Corporate Social Responsibility and Internationational Development'. Nigel Simister presented on 'M&E Systems for Complex Organisations'. His full paper is available to download. Yvonne Es reflected on Oxfam Novib's experience of evaluating their advocacy and campaigning work. The day on Corporate Social Responsibility included discussion of INTRAC's Briefing Paper 'From Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Accountability and Beyond', and a presentation by Diarmid O'Sullivan on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

 November 2009 Forum - Report and paper available

The forum consisted of a one-day seminar on INGO restructuring attended by around 60 participants from major INGOs, followed by a second day where forum members discussed accountability issues. The report and paper for the day on INGO restructuring are available to download using the links above. You can also download ONTRAC 44 - 'What next for INGO structures?', based on the seminar presentations. 

May 2009 Forum- Abstracts available

The forum focussed on civil society innovation, and transnational advocacy – with sessions on ‘innovation or irrelevance? The choice for NGOs’, ‘rethinking civil society practice’ and ‘North-South civil society alliances to influence policy’. There were also presentations on civil society in fragile states and an update on INTRAC's aid effectiveness work.

November 2008 Forum

Focusing on civil society in complex contexts, the forum dealt with Islamic civil society, work with partners in conflict and post-conflict areas, and inequality, religion and conflict. Our guest speakers from Islamic NGOs and academia were highly appreciated and INTRAC's and members' presentations helped us learn from each others' experiences.

May 2008 Forum – Report and abstracts available

Looking at aspects of accountability in the aid chain, this forum had sessions focusing on accountability and aid relations, the Paris Declaration and its impact on participation, accountability to children as overlooked stakeholders, the increasing strain on local NGOs in the aid chain, models of INGO and community-based organisation engagement, and NGOs working with social movements.

November 2007 Forum – Report and abstracts available

The theme of this forum was monitoring and evaluation and the new managerialism. Session topics were the 2008 High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, security and development experiences in Lebanon and the Middle East, China’s aid to Africa and its implications for civil society, and key issues and reflections regarding the main theme.

May 2007 Forum – Abstracts available

The major themes were trends in official development assistance (ODA) and using research in development practice. Sessions discussed the ODA focus on aid harmonisation and the sidelining of civil society, the changing nature of ODA in relation to the ‘War on Terror,’ the role of INGOs in relation to advocacy and social movements, and INGO experiences of using research in development practice.

November 2006 Forum – Report available

At this forum, participants discussed aid architecture, the changing dynamics of North-South partnerships, Counter-Terrorism Measures (CTMs), HIV Positive partnerships, indigenous social movements and INGOs, and a summary of INTRAC’s capacity building conference.

May 2006 Forum – Abstracts available

Sessions  focused on evaluation, networks and organisational learning, counter-terrorism measures, the Paris Declaration Agenda and funding issues, evaluation of the Disasters Emergency Committee in the 2004 tsunami, and a methodological approach to capacity building with HIV/AIDS.

November 2005 Forum – Report available

The presentations ranged from an update on cutting-edge INTRAC fieldwork on international NGOs and social movements in Peru to a thought-provoking talk on the meaning and usefulness of NGO networking. Other interesting sessions focused on diasporas and development, and knowledge transfer and learning generated by networks.