Panel session

This UN PRME project to develop an Anti-Poverty Toolkit is aimed at strengthening teaching and research on poverty around the world. Anti-Poverty is the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by 195 countries of the world in the UN General Assembly in October 2015. The Anti-Poverty Toolkit is envisioned to be a clearing house of open educational resources (e.g. case studies, syllabi, teaching exercises, journal articles) for scholars around the world to access, share, and adapt them to their teaching and research. It is hoped that this instrument will enable and encourage academics around the world to prepare the future generations of business managers, public officials, and civic leaders to contribute to the fight against endemic poverty, extreme hunger, and inequality.

In August 2018, the UN’s Anti-Poverty Working Group has asked a Radford University team of four students and a faculty member to develop an initial database of resources (an embryonic nucleua), as they prepare to contribute resources from their own research and teaching. Over the past year, the team has created a website for the Anti-Poverty Toolkit, populated it with hundreds of artifacts, and used the materials in the creation of a new course on World Poverty. In this panel, the Radford University students will present the Toolkit website, demonstrate its use, and draw some lessons from their past year of experience in developing this Anti-Poverty Toolkit.

The Co-Chairs of the UN PRME Anti-Poverty Working Group and the Toolkit Task Force (Mr. Milenko Gudic and Dr. Al Rosenbloom) will present on the vision for the Toolkit and their plans for its rollout in the coming months. The other panelists from Radford University (Ms. Emily Jenkins, Mr. Gabriel Bennett, Ms. Haley Nunez) will also share their experiences in the process of building such a portal from its conception in 2016/17 to implementation in 2019. The presenters will discuss their strategies and methods, as well as the struggles and successes in undertaking this endeavor.

Session Chair: Tay Keong Tan

Panel Session Presentations

Moderator: Tay Keong Tan

Speakers (in order of presentation):

Discussion on the origins and objectives of the Anti-Poverty Toolkit Project
Milenko Gudic, Co-Chair of the UN PRME Anti-Poverty Working Group

Presentation of the process of developing the Toolkit website
Emily Jenkins, Student Researcher of the Radford University Team

Presentation on the use of the educational resources from the Toolkit to develop a new course on World Poverty
Gabriel Bennett, Student Researcher of the Radford University Team

Presentation on the lessons learned in the process of developing the Toolkit
Haley Nunez, Student Researcher of the Radford University Team

Summing-up Observations
Al Rosenbloom, Co-Chair of the UN PRME Anti-Poverty Working Group