We are committed to achieving a realistic and responsible approach to development guided by existing research and ongoing evaluation.
indigo foundation Praxis Development Award
Each year we offer the indigo foundation Praxis Development Award to support and promote links between development research and practice. The award of AU$500.00 is granted to a person or organisation undertaking research that we believe will contribute, in a practical and accessible way, to community development.
We also provide non-financial support to award recipients, including access to our organisational experience and contacts and, as appropriate, introductions to communities that we are working with. In return we may ask recipients to assist us by reviewing a project to ensure that we are applying key theoretical principles in our work, submitting research articles to our newsletter or speaking to our volunteers and management committee about development research.
Information for Applicants
indigo foundation Development Praxis Award (119 KB)
indigo foundation Praxis Award 2007 – Winner: Ian Seal
In 2007 we were happy to announce that the indigo foundation Development Praxis Award for 2007 was awarded to Ian Seal. Ian’s capacity to link research and action has been demonstrated in his long research/development career which has benefited us recently. Ian volunteered his time and expertise to work with Lemba Education and Community Development Foundation (Lua Lemba) in Rote, Indonesia to develop a Reproductive Health Program. He also collaborated with the schools to develop a curriculum of health education. Ian is currently exploring opportunities to provide capacity building support to an organisation in Africa that works with HIV/AIDS orphans. Specifically, Ian’s aim is to improve psychosocial outcomes and reduce risk factors for poor health in orphans by strengthening and supporting the capacity of families and communities to protect and care for their children. Ian will be travelling to Africa later in 2008 to develop the project. We hope this praxis award provides Ian with extra assistance in the development of his project proposal for HIV orphans.
indigo foundation Praxis Award 2004 – Leanne Black
Leanne is researching the links between capacity building and poverty reduction in developing countries. She is working with communities in East Timor to establish what (if any) on-the-ground benefits accrue to communities if a capacity building approach to development is taken. Over the last decade, ‘capacity building’ has become a key principle in development, and indeed indigo foundation’s approach is based on providing capacity building support to local community-based organisations. Yet, whilst the principles of capacity building appear sound, the complexity and dynamics of it are not well understood. Moreover, there is limited systematic evidence that a capacity building approach actually does reduce poverty or contribute to sustainable development. Leanne’s research is aimed at determining what the links are, and how they work best. Leanne recently completed a B.A. (1st class Honours), majoring in Community Development and has worked among nomadic herders in Niger, West Africa using a participatory development approach. Her insights into the practicalities of development and her keen ability to critically analyse and clearly articulate development theory will be of extreme benefit to indigo foundation. We are extremely happy to be able to support her work.
For more information, please contact info@indigofoundation.org
