Join the internal activities to celebrate CIAT’s 50th anniversary

Únase a las actividades internas de celebración del 50 aniversario del CIAT

Fifty years of CIAT. Five decades of collective enthusiasm to improve farmers’ livelihoods and food security in the tropics. Everyone at CIAT has been involved in the goal of advancing each day in fulfilling the institutional mission, some take longer, others less. Now it’s time to celebrate together.

For this reason, a series of actions and products of internal communication have been proposed, aimed to publicize CIAT’s stories and achievements, so that when they are narrated by their own protagonists, the present can be better understood and future opportunities better identified, positioning CIAT as an organization that does science to cultivate change.

Mini profiles of people turning 50

50cumpleA series of brief profiles of people whose 50th birthday coincides with CIAT’s 50th anniversary are being published on CIATnet. The idea is to draw a parallel per each decade between the life of the people turning 50 in 2017 and CIAT’s milestones.

Videotaped messages to CIAT on its 50th anniversary

Logros y deseosA series of short video testimonials are being published in CIATnet’s newsletter as of 19 January.

These short interviews includes a broad group of CIAT staff, who comment on one of CIAT’s achievements in 5 decades of existence, express a birthday wish for CIAT on its 50th anniversary, and describe their contribution to make that wish come true.

Collective construction of CIAT’s milestones timeline through graphic facilitation

timelineAn initial timeline is being exhibited including some milestones of CIAT’s history. During the exhibition, it’s possible for all CIAT staff to make contributions to the timeline, by proposing events, products, or outstanding people. A committee will select the most relevant contributions, which will be included in the original timeline through graphic facilitation. The people in attendance will be able to see and participate throughout the entire process.

Celebrating with exCIAT staff

granreencuentro_CIAT50Taking into account that various generations of practitioners and students have passed through CIAT, making contributions to building our quality research track record, an informal event will be held as a space to recall, remember, and meet again with exCIAT staff. The event aims to celebrate with exCIAT staff the Center’s 50th anniversary for them to reconnect with their colleagues, learn about the Center’s present research and share the memories of anecdotes, experiences, and people that have left their marks on 50 years of history. Of course, CIAT current staff are welcome to be part of this event.

Dialogues: Meeting of minds, connecting the future and the present for greater impact

cassava_dialogue1The aim was to bring together two perspectives: one by a CIAT current researcher and the other by an exCIAT staff, and open a dialogue between them. The idea was to foster a gathering between researchers who have dealt with the same topic at CIAT and to contrast the two visions, documenting how the scenarios and discussion have evolved over time and offering the CIAT community a more complete picture of the research initiatives developed by CIAT and partners, to better understand CIAT’s future challenges and best bets in regards to key issues. These conversations are documented in blog posts.

The first dialogue was about the strategic role of cassava in Asia over time, with the participation of Reinhardt Howeler (CIAT’s emeritus) and Jonathan Newby (CIAT’s natural resource economist).

Check this link to listen the dialogue: https://bluejeans.com/s/JdmBY

Click here to see Dr. Reinhardt Howeler’s presentation.

Click here to see Dr. Jonathan Newby’s presentation.