Koneksi Inception Workshops - December 2023
These workshops, held at the Monash University, Indonesia campus in Jakarta and Hasanuddin University in Makassar in December 2023, gave the team the opportunity to build codesign principles into the project to transcend traditional power dynamics. Ethics, authorship guidelines, project time frames and ways of working were all discussed and decided upon collaboratively.
This was the first time the core team had come together and was the first time many of us had met each other in person - and it often did feel like catching up with old friends. For the Centre team, it was especially great to meet Drs Yulisna Mutia Sari, Welmince Djulete (Ce Ce) and Miya Irawati in person, the three postdocs who have been recruited to carry out much of the field work for this project.
The team resolved barriers presented by language, [dis]ability and technology to set the project up as a genuine collaboration. Most importantly, the team came together to create genuine relationships built around trust and kindness with mutual, even grounding with the typical power dynamics removed.
The key project questions were established and teased out through the three streams - people with disabilities, gender and older people, with a focus on the regions identified as being most at risk in eastern Indonesia.
We welcomed team members who travelled from across Eastern Indonesia to attend, and others who joined one or both via Zoom - the team were committed to ensuring that everyone was included in the discussions. We also welcomed Jana Hertz from Koneksi to the Jakarta workshop, and Pak Jamaluddin Jompa, Hasanuddin University Rector welcomed the team to dinner at his official residence in Makassar.
We are excited to be a part of this collaborative project, we thank everyone who travelled from across eastern Indonesia to participate and look forward to continuing the project in 2024.
