Research

We are committed to achieving a realistic and responsible approach to development guided by existing research and ongoing evaluation.

Our research work is led by our Advisor (Research) on our Panel of Advisors, Dr Susan Engel, who works with students, academics and practitioners to examine issues in development and pursue case studies of our projects. This research is used to support our internal decision making and work with our community partners and is often published as a ‘think piece’ in our biannual indigo iNK magazine.

We value our relationships with the University of Wollongong, the University of Technology Sydney and Kabul university, the Gawharshad Institute of Higher Education in Afghanistan. Since 2011 we have partnered with the Gawharshad Institute of Higher Education to support the Women’s Empowerment Centre and in 2015 we launched a partnership with fledgling Afghan organisation, the Afghan Educated Women’s Services Organisation to jointly support research with UTS on the barriers to tertiary-educated women entering the workforce in Afghanistan. This research will be published in 2019.

At the University of Wollongong, we sponsor the annual indigo foundation Praxis Development Award to support and promote links between development research and practice. The award of AU$250 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.

For more information, please contact Susan Engel at susan.engel@indigofoundation.org