Email on review of DSAI Constitution & Governance

Hi all,

FYI and to facilitate discussion I am posting Ronnie's recent email on the need for constitution and governance review which he sent around via the open email list (users@dsaireland.org).  See also Jacinta´s comments on this issue in an earlier discussion.

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Dear DSAI colleagues,

As you know the Development Studies Association, Ireland is increasingly
building up its profile and beginning to make an impact. There is no doubt
that
as a development research and practice network it is having some influence,
not least through our input to the Irish Aid White Paper review.

We are now moving towards our third AGM and I would like to propose an
open discussion online on how best to grow the DSAI and under what governance
arrangements. A number of DSAI members have raised issues around this and
expressed a desire for a broad debate around how to achieve the
most open form of governance we can. For example, how do we encourage and
facilitate participation in DSAI decsion-making? How do we build in mechanisms
for accountability? How do we make DSAI more than the sum of its members?
How can we act as a coherent organisation to promote development research
in Ireland while also keeping the diversity of views amongst us to the fore?

I would like to propose that we start now expressing our views around the
draft DSAI constitution presented at last year's AGM held at Maynooth as
well as governance procedures which are available at http://www.dsaireland.org/dsai_net/discussion/comments-draft-constitutional-document.

We can discuss online through through the open membership email list (users@dsaireland.org)
to which all members can post information and comments.
I would be happy to take all views emerging to the DSAI Steering Committee
and seek to establish robust, open and democratic means through which we
can take this debate forward. We can also organise a meeting on the issue
on request from members. I would hope that we might be in a position to collate
preliminary comments for a Steering Committee meeting on June 5th and that
we might have a final constitution developed from a broad collaborative process
which could be further debated and ratified at the AGM in September.

Over to you colleagues!

Ronnie Munck