Registration is now open: http://cutt.ly/ESJPRegistration

Despite the fact that in our last communication we had informed that the XV Conference of the Engineering, Social Justice and Peace Network was going to be face-to-face with the possibility of connecting through virtual means, it will not be possible for reasons beyond our control.

The pandemic in Colombia and in much of the world has not yielded, which is evidenced in a second and third wave in several countries, with mortality even higher than the first wave. This has created impediments to the holding of massive events, as well as international activities due to the measures taken in each of the countries. In addition, the development of vaccines through the capitalist production and consumption system, in the current world-system, has made the countries of the Global North have the possibility of accessing vaccines while countries of the South, such as Colombia, have not yet bought. a single dose.

Therefore, we will continue with the conference but virtually, keeping the date from June 10 to 12, 2021, which implies several logistical and economic changes. That is why registration will be free, but we will receive voluntary contributions by means that we will inform, according to their possibilities, for the payment of the platform that we will use and cover the logistics of the event.

Likewise, from this moment on, we open a new call to present their work until next March 31, respecting the decisions they have made or want to take on the contributions already sent. Later we will send information about the registrations and the platform that will be used.

The schedule will be as follows:

• Sending summaries of papers and workshops, as well as confirmation of contributions already sent (except for those who have already confirmed): until March 31.
• Acceptance of abstracts: April 30.
• Registration: from May 1 to June 1.
• Conference: from June 10 to 12.

The tentative conference agenda is available here: https://en.ciapumakiwe.org/cronograma

You can access more information here: https://en.ciapumakiwe.org/xv-esjp

We hope that all of you are managing with the changed normality, and  staying safe and well. We send our courage and well wishes to those of you who are sick or have sick relatives and friends. Many are now unemployed, many without food. It is a time when those of us with privilege have more time on our hands, and those with less, are working ever more and at risk, serving us to stay safe in our homes. It is difficult to know what to do and how to address this, how to begin to think about it. Many in our network are making masks and ventilators. Many are volunteering. For those who need to stay at home in complete isolation this is not possible except online and in new and innovative ways. 

This filmed talk ‘A Pandemic’s Impact on Peace (from the Kroc School of Peace and Justice at University of San Diego with the San Diego Diplomacy Council ) has some sobering figures to share. We urge you to bring this kind of information into your online classes where you can. Our students must do things differently than we have been doing. They must begin to understand how growth and greed have created not only an unsustainable and unjust world in the long term but right now. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNMPePKF6eE

We would like to offer some hope and courage at this time as well – we will be offering a virtual Critical Conversation retreat on June 26th and 27th in place of our usual retreat in the forest. Borrowing from the Australian ‘Reset Reading group – Ideas for a just future’ – “Everything is being reset – what happens how is up to us…”

Everything is being reset – what happens now is up to usCritical Conversations virtual retreat June 26th and June 27th
Before Covid 19 emerged we had been reflecting on the two critical discussions we had around Trust and Degrowth in 2018 and 2019.  Both retreats brought us together to explore the importance of social change, the principles of peace and social justice, and the challenges that keep the changes we want to see in the world from happening. We believed and still do, that we touched on something special, and while it has been difficult to sustain the interest, the passion and the readiness for action we sensed during the retreats, we believe it is within our reach to turn an annual gathering into mutually sustaining processes and practices for collective change. This is ever more true today. We realize that we need a deeper dive and greater commitment to exploring how we can turn our individual nodes into interconnected ones, guided by our obligations to one another and to the radical hope of a more just future, which underlie the world we want to build together. It is from this ethos of collaboration and interdependency as well as our current dystopian reality that we would like to organize a third retreat, focusing on our common ground, what brings us together, and how we can harness our efforts through mutual support and collective action. 

This third and virtual retreat will take place over the course of two days – June 26th and 27th. Whilst you will not be expected to be online the whole time, the same zoom link will be available for the whole period and we will move in and out of the online space involving different forms of interaction over the two days to allow for as much one to one and small group discussion as possible. We aim to bring the experience of a retreat – an extended period of reflection with others – to the online arena. If you have outside space we will encourage you to take your mobile devices outside during this time, as far as possible and enjoy the early summer weather. We invite you to join us in this online experiment and share this with friends and colleagues who need to feel connected at this time and create a call for action.  

To register for this free virtual event please email cbaillie@sandiego.edu. We will limit numbers only to allow for richer conversations so you may wish to reserve your place now. 

Love and courage 
Caroline Baillie on behalf of ESJP

We are very sorry to announce the postponement of the ESJP conference in Colombia this year. Our Critical Conversation retreat will still go ahead on June 26th/27th.  Our annual Critical conversation retreat is usually held in a beautiful nature retreat in upstate NY. This year, if meetings and travel are still unwise, we will be hosting the event as a virtual gathering. We believe that it is imperative that such conversations continue to happen and that we find ways to connect and support one another and those who are vulnerable.  The conversation will adopt an ‘Open Space’ approach where participants will be facilitated to create their own agenda. This year, we will be assessing our past and current situation and focus on pathways to a new future, as well as ways that we can help our neighbors in this critical time of need.  If we are to go ahead with an line version of this meeting there would be no free but we do ask for people to commit to the whole weekend so we can retreat as far as possible from the strains of our usual strange existences.  If you would like to join us in the event that it is online, please contact us to register. 

Hybrid Praxes
Transforming society from diverse theories and actions

We call contributions that reflect and act from hybrid places, in other words, that possess characteristics of different theoretical, conceptual or methodological nature in the relation of Engineering, Social Justice and Peace. A tribute is made to the work of two Latin Americans: Paulo Freire (Brazilian pedagogue and activist) and Orlando Fals Borda (Colombian sociologist and activist); from their efforts to create a praxis located and contextualized in a critical education. To nurture their reflections, perspectives are included where the dialogue of knowledge gives way to conversation, co-construction, consciousness, decoloniality, and respect for others knowledge. In this way, thinking in hybrid praxis invites us to create, from different places and with diverse social groups and individuals, transformations in reality, where technology is nourished by social dynamics and society is transformed by technology in a bidirectional relationship. In particular, Colombia is an exploration scenario for Engineering, Social Justice and Peace especially after the signing of the agreement between the Government and the FARC-EP in 2016 and the multiple threats to compliance and implementation.

Read more about the conference here.

ESJP14 conference attendees engage in “tierrafiltra, recuperando lo nuestre / a dam on a sacred site and a water filter: let the water flow macro and micro” a workshop by Amara Abdal Figueroa.

Enjoying lunch at the Critical Conversations Retreat on Degrowth

The schedule for the ESJP 2019 Conference is now available here.

Interested in revolutionizing engineering education to include social justice?

Title:  Post Doctoral Research Associate
Area: Social Science/STS/Engineering Education 
Deadline: open until filled, for best consideration, please submit by June 3

The Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering is seeking candidates for one or more years as a postdoctoral research associate to work on the National Science Foundation grant:  IUSE/PFE REvolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments (RED): “Developing Changemaking Engineers”.  This position will collaborate with faculty, students, and industry partners to assist in producing and disseminating activities in and out of the university classroom in support of our model for collaborative change to redefine the “engineering canon” and develop “Changemaking Engineers”.  The RED abstract can be found at here. 

Our School of Engineering is revolutionizing engineering education, with the aim of preparing students to innovate engineering solutions developed within a contextual framework that embeds humanitarian, sustainable and social justice approaches. It also seeks to infuse professional skills into the curriculum and align these with our institutional context.  This requires an enhanced curriculum with a focus on student teamwork, a greater consideration of social and economic factors, improved communication with diverse constituents, and reflection on an ethical understanding of decisions and solutions.

Application should include: curriculum vitae, research statement/plans, and a cover letter to include a statement of how you fit with the goals of the USD NSF RED grant to develop changemaking engineers. For more information, visit www.sandiego.edu/jobs ( Job Number: 1061). Please contact Susan Lord (slord@sandiego.edu) with any questions.