A refreshing and dynamic international workshop
June 6-10, 2016
Alberta, Canada
Are you enthusiastic about learning from, and working with, people from other disciplines?
Are you looking for an opportunity to apply your expertise in a new context?
Would you like the chance to explore how social science, agricultural and natural systems can come together to work more effectively?
Then this is the workshop for you!
We are looking for researchers and managers from a broad range of disciplines and systems to join our international weeds workshop. Our ambitious goal is to make holistic weed management a reality through transdisciplinarity!
Join us!
We guarantee this will be like no other workshop you have ever attended before!
With no more than 35 participants, you will have the time and the opportunity to:
Ø think, discuss, argue, challenge one another (in a good-spirited way), and together to reach conclusions about the best ways forward.
Ø engage with some of the world's top weed, farming systems and social researchers and, critically, with a strong contingent of our best young scientists.
Ø be an active participant – every attendee will give given a specific role
Ø be inspired by an outstanding venue, close to national parks, mountains and forests.
Ø work hard but have a great amount of fun!
Ø be a co-author on at least one scientific paper.
The workshop is co-organised by the ANdiNA group of international weed/invasive plant scientists and the Canadian Weed Science Society.
Details on how to participate: http://andinaalberta.weebly.com/participation.html
Meeting costs: http://andinaalberta.weebly.com/cost.html
Why is transdisciplinary weed management needed?
Managing weeds is a complex problem; it is multi-dimensional, within which science is just one of the sources of information from which managers make decisions. Other inputs include:
Ø the diversity of options for weed management;
Ø the multiplicity of decisions being made in the management system as a whole;
Ø costs and benefits – not just economic – that are often difficult to identify and quantify;
Ø lifestyle and social considerations;
Ø peer pressure;
Ø community expectations;
Ø human health, and many more.
Integrated solutions are needed that draw on the combined expertise from a wide range of disciplines as well as from public and private stakeholders with other types of knowledge. But this is easier said than done!
There are few examples, internationally, of where truly transdisciplinary and systems-oriented weed management has been achieved.
How will we make transdisciplinary weed management a reality?
We are seeking to:
Ø Identify challenges to implementing transdisciplinary research and brainstorm potential avenues for overcoming such challenges;
Ø Develop project ideas that incorporate a transdisciplinary approach for solving pressing weed management issues;
Ø Initiate a long-term strategy for achieving holistic transdisciplinary weed solutions;
Ø Publish the results of our deliberations; and
Ø Continue to build an international transdisciplinary community of dedicated researchers and practitioners.
Testimonials from past participants
“A real novelty of the Benasque meeting was that the organisers succeeded in creating an atmosphere that encouraged critical debate of important and controversial topics while making sure that everyone, regardless of seniority or gender, had the opportunity to contribute and engage. The organisers created a rare beast: a safe and creative space for robust academic debate. The quality and depth of the conversations that ensued were excellent as a result.” Professor Yvonne Buckley, Trinity College, Dublin
“I found the workshop to be the best international research collaboration that I have ever been to. It was far more stimulating than large conferences; I felt that I was challenged intellectually and I made a whole new network of research contacts that will be beneficial for my future career.” Dr Sonia Graham, early career researcher, University of NSW.
"I attended the first ANDINA workshop, and found it to be one of the most thought provoking and productive workshops that I’ve had the privilege to attend". Dr. Bruce Webber, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia.
This workshop is co-organised by the ANdiNA group of international weed/invasive plant scientists and the Canadian Weed Science Society