Read the full overview report on all the papers and mini-workshops at the 4th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries (GAF4) held in Yeosu, Korea, in May as part of the 10AFAF.

http://genderaquafish.org/2013/07/17/gaf4-spotlight-was-on-gender-and-change/

10th Asian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum
(S-2) Special Session 2: 4th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries
Yeosu, Korea
April 30 to May 4 2013
http://www.koference.org/
http://genderaquafish.org/
Dates (actual dates to be advised. GAF4 will be held over 2-3 days of 10AFAF)

THEMES AND FORMATS

SECTION I: PRESENTATIONS ON PAPERS ON THE FOLLOWING THEMES
I. CHANGE: Capabilities and vulnerabilities with respect to changes (environmental, social, cultural, economic, livelihood). Gendered change (for women, men, girls, boys) is an important characteristic of the major changes occurring in aquaculture and fisheries. However, the gendered nature of change is little recognized, little studied and rarely measured. How can it be researched, measured and how should different agencies (e.g., fisheries departments, development agencies, NGOs) address it? Chair , Co-Chair - to be advised. Lead speaker and contributed papers
II. ASSETS, SPACES AND ROLES: Qualifying and quantifying gender assets and roles, and the gendered use of space in aquaculture and fisheries (or) Unique spaces for women in aquaculture and fisheries. Chair, Co-Chair - to be advised. Lead speaker and contributed papers
III. FUTURE NEEDS: Policy and advocacy related to gender in aquaculture and fisheries - research, development, decision making bodies (governments, public spaces), and the human capacity requirements. Chair, Co-Chair - to be advised. Lead speaker and contributed papers.

SECTION II: MINI WORKSHOPS, FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS
I. RESEARCH METHODS ROUNDTABLE: Qualitative and Quantitative methods in gender research and writing gender papers eg: research design for comparative analysis of seaweed farming and gender. Mini Workshop: Chair - Marilyn Potter, + Co-Chair- (to be advised )
II., GENDER NETWORKS AND ASSOCIATIONS FOR AQUACULTURE AND FISHERIES: To explore why establishing and maintaining women and gender in fisheries and aquaculture networks and interest groups has proven difficult in all countries and regions. From experience, lessons learned, better understanding the needs and challenges, and brainstorming new pathways, explore options for future action in research, advocacy and development support. Chair: to be advised.
III. AQUACUTLURE PLATFORM FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION ON FUTURE RESEARCH NEEDS: What are the most important areas to cover in ASEM (Asian-Europe Meeting) future research (methodology, subjects of interest, types of beneficiary) concerning gender and aquaculture. Chair: Dr Zumilah Zainalaludin

Abstracts are invited from researchers for papers to be presented on the themes mentioned in Section I above. The abstracts will have to confirm to the general format prescribed for the 10afaf. The format can be accessed at http://www.koference.org/abstracts.do?mode=guideline. The last date for receipt of abstracts is November 30, 2012. The abstracts should be submitted to the main 10AFAF organizers and can be submitted online at: http://www.koference.org/abstracts.do?mode=online. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL GAF4 ABSTRACTS WILL NEED TO BE SUBMITTED ONLINE THROUGH THE MAIN 10AFAF SUBMISSION SYSTEM.

Section II will be open to all participants of GAF4 and will be in mini workshop and focus group discussion formats. The presentations for this section will be by invitation only. Participants are free to bring in material or discussion points to the workshops for discussion in the same.

Dr Nikita Gopal
Chair, Program Sub-Committee
nikiajith@gmail.com

The AFS Genderaquafish website (http://genderaquafish.org/) contains information, resources, news and links of relevance to gender/women in aquaculture/fisheires/coasts research, plus related more general information on the latest in gender studies. You can subscribe to this site to receive news of new posts, or join us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/AFS-Gender-in-Aquaculture-and-Fisheries/181176555231544).

HAVING IMPACT WITH YOUR RESEARCH RESULTS

http://genderaquafish.org/2012/09/04/having-impact-with-your-research-results/


What Difference Does a Policy Brief Make?

Penelope Beynon, Christelle Chapoy, Marie Gaarder and Edoardo Masset of the Institute of Development Studies, the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation and NORAD carried out an intriguing randomized control design survey involving over 800 experts to try to answer this question.

The policy brief used in the study was the report: Masset, E.; Haddad, L.; Cornelius, A. and Isaza-Castro, J. (2011) A Systematic Review of Agricultural Interventions that Aim to Improve Nutritional Status of Children. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. It included fisheries interventions.

One conclusion was that including an opinion piece with the Policy Brief "seemed to help in reinforcing certain key messages more than others. Respondents who did not receive an opinion piece tended to identify other key messages within the text of the policy brief."

Summary:
Research has potential to improve the lives of the world's vulnerable people if it is appropriately referred to in decision-making processes. While there is a significant industry of activity each year to communicate research findings, little systematic research has tested or compared the effectiveness of such efforts either for changing beliefs or for prompting action. Using a randomised control design, this study explored the effectiveness of one popular research communication tool, a policy brief, and queried whether different versions of a brief bring about different results. We find that the policy brief had little effect on changing the beliefs of readers who held strong prior beliefs on entering the study, but had some potential to create evidence-accurate beliefs among readers holding no prior beliefs. Also, when it comes to beliefs, the impact of the policy brief seems to be independent of the specific form of the policy brief. However, different versions of the brief (versions that include a research Opinion with or without a suggestion that the opinion is from an Authoritative source) do achieve different results when it comes to prompting actions. We find that other factors internal and external to the brief (gender of the reader, reader's self-perceived level of influence and the extent to which the reader feels 'convinced' by the brief) are also linked to action. This first-of-its-kind study has implications for how research communication experts design policy briefs, how they understand and enable readers to act as knowledge brokers in their particular environment, and how we evaluate research communication going forward.

Zanzibar, India, Philippines: three countries, three research studies on gender and the seaweed farming industries

http://genderaquafish.org/2012/09/07/seaweed-farming-three-countries-three-different-experiences/

Seaweed farming has grown at much the same rapid rate as other forms of aquaculture in the last twenty years, but seaweeds are produced in far fewer countries than, for example, farmed fish. The Philippines and Tanzania are among the top 8 countries. India is not yet on the list but, on the Coromandel (southeast) Indian coast, the industry commenced in the early 2000s as a platform for women's empowerment.

Comparative studies on the social and gender dimensions of seaweed farming in Zanzibar (Tanzania), India and Philippines are not available but the three studies below provide insights into different aspects of seaweed farming. Sara Frocklin and colleagues focus on women's health in the industry in Zanzibar. Ramchandran analyses the property rights and support for women and men from a gender perspective in seaweed and other forms of mariculture in India, finding that women are tending to lose access when an industry's profitability is proven. Della Grace Bacaltos and colleagues describe community group building efforts and gender roles for small-scale farmers in the Philippines in the Davao.

Follow the link above to read more and download the studies.