RYVU GAMES ENGAGEMENT DURING THE 2024 ISTR CONFERENCE PhD SEMINAR

From 14 to 16 July, Prof Matt Baillie Smith shared experiences from the RYVU Project at the 8th International PhD Seminar, part of the 16th International Conference of the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR), hosted by the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

The 16th International Conference of the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) was preceded by the ISTR PhD Seminar, which hosted 48 PhD researchers from 26 nationalities, pursuing their doctoral studies at institutions in 18 countries. Professor Matt Baillie Smith was invited as part of the distinguished faculty that supported the PhD Seminar.

From the 14th to the 16th of July, this international seminar included workshops and panels designed to support PhD researchers in various areas, such as developing funding proposals, navigating academic careers, dealing with rejection, publishing, considering creative ways to disseminate research, and discussing NGO studies in non-Western contexts.

As part of the seminar, Professor Baillie Smith facilitated an interactive session on research dissemination, using the RYVU project games as a tool to engage stakeholders with key findings from the RYVU research on how refugee groups respond to humanitarian crises and development issues in Uganda, and the different types of opportunities and challenges they face.

This highly interactive session was well-received by participants, who engaged in discussions and played the RYVU games with peers, sparking conversations about the value of creative methods for communicating research findings effectively within policy spaces.

RYVU Games Engagement Session during the ISTR 2024 PhD Seminar in Antwerp.