Carlos Vegas, Elections and Technology specialist, took part to the 2012 edition of the Barcelona LEAD training. He gave us this short interview on the course. Have a look to learn more about the LEAD training and do not miss the chance to attend the 14-18 October 2013 edition! All information at eces.eu/training/lead/lead-barcelona-october-2013 What, in your opinion, have been the greatest strengths of the LEAD training? I believe the LEAD training was very well planned and balanced. The combination of workshops, working groups, ice-breakers and visual material made the learning process comprehensive and engaging. As a matter of fact, the training addressed a variety of topics, such as leadership development skills, conflict prevention, media monitoring, election observation and conflict management. They are all linked to the central subject of election-related violence and conflict, and studying them in the same forum has helped me getting a much more complete understanding of this very complex phenomenon. Moreover, the different aspects of the LEAD methodology fostered the team spirit among participants, making of this 5 days workshop a great opportunity in terms of networking. Another feature that certainly added value to the LEAD training was the screening of the movie An African Election. The movie is certainly unique and relevant both as educational and visual tool. The fact of screening it at the beginning of the course provided a lot of food for thoughts to me -and I believe that also to all the participants- and helped getting familiar with the core issues of the training - leadership and conflict management in the electoral processes - since the very first day. Carlos, you have facilitate a session during the training, what did this experience mean to you? First of all I would like to say that having been offered the possibility to give a presentation on my research on e-voting was for me a great honour. It was something I was not expecting, but when Fabio asked me if I was available for a presentation, I immediately said “definitely!”. It was a great opportunity, especially because it does not happen every day to have the possibility to speak in front of such a high level audience. There were election commissioners, election practitioners and members of international organizations, and despite the fact that not everybody was so familiar with my topic -Technology in Elections- it was very nice to see that the participation and interest was high and their contributions and feedback also helped me approaching the issue from very different points of view. If you had to list 3 reasons to attend the LEAD training, which would they be? The first reason would certainly be the comprehensiveness of the training and the quality of professionalism of the trainers. In five days the course addresses several different topics in a very structured and engaging way. The core topic, election-related violence and conflict, is analysed under different but at the same time complementary perspectives. Secondly, and it is a fundamental element, the training certainly helps expanding one’s own professional network. The participants who took part to the 2012 LEAD course in Barcelona had different backgrounds - practitioners, electoral officials, academics - but each of them brought a high level experience, which resulted in a rich and stimulating working environment and in a wide professional network. Last but not least, the training develops in a suggestive and entertaining setting, such as the cosmopolitan city of Barcelona and in a great forum as is the Barcelona International Peace Resource Centre. The city offers everything training like this might need to make people feel very comfortable, from a beautiful setting to good food, pleasant weather and fun. A reason more to attend!
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 12:19:32 +0000
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