This document outlines the agenda and activities for a 3-day workshop on community engagement for the Innovation Scholars Program at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Malawi. The workshop introduces concepts of community engagement, contextualizes existing approaches at LUANAR, and helps participants apply community engagement strategies to their individual projects. Participants will develop plans to operationalize community engagement in their work and identify next steps to institutionalize lessons learned.

1. Engaging Communities
for Innovation in
African Food Systems
INNOVATION SCHOLARS PROGRAM
LUANAR Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural Resources
September 27-29, 2016

2. Workshop 1
Reflection Project updates & Reflections on Applying Design Thinking
Reflection Feedback
PROTOTYPE
EMPATHIZE
DEFINE
IDEATE
TEST
1

3. 2015
Innovation
Scholars Project Timeline
Dec SeptJune
Program
Dec
Designing the ISP
LUANAR-MSU
Planning
Collaborative,
participatory
planning sessions.
2017
Feb/Mar May
African Innovation
Learning Excursion
Visit regional
innovation centers.
Contextualize lessons
from exemplars.
Aug
Celebrate Innovation
ISP Symposium
Highlight ISP Projects.
Unveil Leadership
development program.
2016
Community Engagment
WORKSHOP 2
Develop leadership
development plan.
Introduce Community
Engagement methods.
Communicating
Science for Impact
WORKSHOP 4
Prep pitches for
closing symposium.
Communicate science to
diverse audiences.
Design Thinking
Program Launch &
WORKSHOP 1
Develop work plan,
roles and budget.
Introduce Design
Thinking methods.
Teaching and Learning
WORKSHOP 3
Envision an innovative
teaching culture.
Plan for innovative
classrooms.
2

4. Workshop 2 Agenda
Day 1
Introduce
Day 2
Contextualize
Day 3
Apply
Connecting Academic Scholarship and Real World Development Challenges
What is Community
Engagment?
Why and how does it
matter at LUANAR?
How do we apply it
to our projects?
3

5. Day 1
Introduce
Community Actors Competencies & Values
What are the categories of actors/
stakeholders in the community that
we envisage to engage with?
As scholars, what do we need to be able to
do/do differently to engage better with the
community in a mutually beneficial manner?
What are the underlying principles and
values that should guide our engagement
with community to achieve our shared goal?
Principles and Values
Engaging Communities for Innovation in African Food Systems:
What this means for your academic work and your ISP project
4

6. Engaging Communities for Innovation in African Food Systems:
What this means for LUANAR and Malawi
Day 1
Introduce
Experiences Values
What lessons learned from our current
engagement should inform future
engagment?
Where is Community Engagment being
used and what assumptions are held by
the Institution for CE work?
5

7. Day 2
Contextualize
Community Engagement at LUANAR
Community engagement
in African Universities
Agenda Notes
Stakeholder Perspectives
i.
Community engagement
at LUANAR
ii.
iii.
Facilitator: Dr. Paul Kibwika and
Dr. Daimon Kambewa
6

8. Day 3
Apply
Operationalizing Community Engagement
(Faculty Participants)
(Leaders)
your ISP Project?
your Leadership Development Program?
Community Actors Competencies & Values
What are the categories of actors/
stakeholders in the community that
we envisage to engage with?
As scholars, what do we need to be able to
do/do differently to engage better with the
community in a mutually beneficial manner?
What are the underlying principles and
values that should guide our engagement
with community to achieve our shared goal?
Principles and Values
What does successful community
engagement look like for...
7

9. Day 3
Apply
Gallery Walk
Take your reflections and turn them
into a poster presentation for your
peers (be as creative as you like).
1 You have two minutes to present your
poster to the group. Be brief, concise,
and focus on central concepts.
2 As you listen to the presentations,
capture emerging themes in the
boxes below.
3
Emerging themes on community actors Emerging themes on competencies and skills Emerging themes on principles and values
8

10. Day 3
Apply
Session Planning for Community Engagment
Next Steps
for monitoring implementation of
community engagement and
support system
1
Create a timeline &
develop benchmarks
moving forward
Task:
DecSept Oct Nov
9

11. Planning
for continuous learning
within and across teams
2 Strategies
for institutionalizing lessons
learned and creating awareness
in the entire university
3
Day 3
Apply
Session Planning for Community Engagment
10

12. Workshop
Notes Page

13. Workshop
Notes Page

14. Workshop 2
Bios
About the ISP Facilitation Team
Bill Heinrich is the Director of Assessment at
MSU's Hub for innovation in Learning and Technology.
He works with students, faculty, and co-curricular
staff to enhance undergraduate learning through
high-impact and experiential pedagogies. His
research focuses on finding socio-emotional
outcomes and critical thinking in powerful learning
experiences. Bill holds a PhD in Higher, Adult, and
Lifelong education with research focused on
assessment mindsets and assessing experiential
learning. He spends time working with faculty and
students to help them make the most of their
experiential curricula and co-curriculum. Bill has
published and presented on assessing for critical
thinking and socio-emotional outcomes in broad
curricular areas.
Bill
Heinrich, Ph. D.
John
Bonnell, Ph. D.
John Bonnell is Director of the Academy for Global
Engagement in the Center for Global Connections and
Co-PI of the Innovation Scholars Program in the
Global Center for Food Systems Innovation at
Michigan State University (MSU). In these roles John
leads faculty development programs for academic
staff at MSU and at partner universities, particularly
in Africa. John also works in MSU’s International
Center as the Associate Director and Research
Coordinator of the Tanzania Partnership Program, a
collaborative alliance of local and international
organizations dedicated to improving local liveli-
hoods and promoting community resiliency in
Tanzania. Dr. Bonnell is a practitioner and scholar of
international higher education. His research and
praxis include the role of higher education in devel-
oping countries, educational and workforce develop-
ment systems, faculty development, organizational
transformation, and international academic partner-
ships. He has conducted educational research and
development projects in Kenya, Tanzania, South
Africa, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Ghana. Prior to
joining MSU, Dr. Bonnell served as a faculty member
and head of department at a private university in
Kenya. Dr. Bonnell holds a PhD from MSU in Higher
Education Administration, specializing in African
Studies and International Development.
Paul
Kibwika, Ph. D.
Paul Kibwika obtained his PhD in 2007 in Social
Science at Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
He is also a senior lecturer and researcher in the
Department of Agricultural Extension/Education,
Makerere University, Uganda where he has served for
over thirteen years now. His research interest is in the
social dimensions of agrarian development particular-
ly, local organisations development and empower-
ment; agricultural innovation systems; and transfor-
mative learning. In pursuance of these interests, he
believes in people’s capabilities to solve their own
problems as a core value. Accordingly he applies
facilitative approaches to enhancing people’s space
and confidence to act as they respond to challenges
and opportunities in their environment.
Paul Kibwika has extensively and intensively engaged
in facilitating and documenting learning and change
processes in organisations. He engages in such
processes of organisational transformation as an
action researcher who seeks to see the impact of his
engagement. Broadly, capacity building is a major
focal area of his professional practice. His recent book
on Learning to make change: developing innovation
competence in recreating the African University of the
21. century explains efforts to make the African
university more innovative and responsive to commu-
nity needs and the challenges posed by sustainability.

15. Workshop 2
Bios
About the ISP Facilitation Team
Andy
Safalaoh, Ph. D.
Andy Safalaoh is the current Coordinator for the Lilongwe
University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)
–Global Centre for Food Systems Innovation (GCFSI)
Innovation Hub based at LUNAR-Bunda Campus, Lilongwe,
Malawi. Andy is also an Associate Professor in Monogas-
tric Nutrition and Production at LUANAR where he is
involved in teaching, research, outreach and consultancy
work. Andy has a PhD in Science, technology and Innova-
tion Studies (University of Nottingham, UK; Master of
Science in Animal Science, Oklahoma State University, USA
and B.Sc. in Agriculture, University of Malawi). Andy
currently coordinates the Innovation Scholars Programme
(Faculty and Leadership tracks; the Frugal Innovation
Practicum and the Faculty Research Grants) in collabora-
tion with GCFSI. Andy has worked as an innovations
systems consultant including Regional Expert, Agriculture
Science Technology Innovation Systems (ASTI)
Programme for the African Caribbean and Pacific Region
under the auspices of Technical Centre for Agricultural and
Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), Wageningen, The
Netherlands (April 2007 to 2010; Malawi, Rwanda,
Tanzania, and Uganda). Before joining the academia
world, Andy worked for Save the Children Federation Inc.
/USA in several successive capacities as Training Develop-
ment Coordinator, Food Production Coordinator and
Programme Manager for the USAID-funded Malawi Rural
Development Linkage Programme for Mbalachanda
(Mzimba) and Mkhota (Kasungu) Impact Areas. Andy is
also a Leadership in Environment and Development
(LEAD) Fellow, Imperial College, London.
Dr. Kurt Richter is the Assistant Director for the Global
Center for Food Systems Innovation. Kurt has over 20
years of involvement in higher education and inter-
national development. At GCFSI Dr. Richter is responsible
for day to day operations, long term strategic planning
and serves as a principle point of contact. Kurt has
worked in numerous countries in Africa, Asia and Latin
America and has held long term leadership roles in
Guatemala, Colombia, Afghanistan and the Republic of
Georgia. Dr. Richter was the founding Study Abroad
Director for the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural
Resources at the University of Missouri. While at the
University of California, Davis, Kurt worked at the
Agricultural Issues Center where he focused on
agricultural land uses and urbanization in the San
Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley of California.
In addition, Kurt served as Director for the National
Agricultural Information Systems unit in the Ministry of
Agriculture in Kabul, Afghanistan. At Virginia Tech, Dr.
Richter held the position of Associate Director for
Technical Assistance and Special Initiatives where he
worked on Human and Institutional Capacity Development
projects in numerous countries including Senegal, South
Sudan and Tajikistan. As a result, he brings a unique set
of skills to GCFSI in areas such as program
implementation, proposal writing, financial leadership,
and cross cultural communication. Kurt holds a B.Sc. and
M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the University of
Missouri and Ph.D. in Economic Geography from the
University of California, Davis.
Kurt
Richter, Ph. D.
John
Medendorp, Ph. D.
John Medendorp is an International Project Manager and a
specialist in human and institutional capacity development
at the Center for Global Connection in Food, Agriculture,
and Natural Resources at Michigan State University’s
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He holds a
Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong education with a
specialization in international development from MSU. He
has worked internationally for several NGOs over the last
thirty years in community development, leadership
training, and higher education capacity building. At CGC, he
has managed and supported capacity building projects for
USAID, USDA, and the John A. Kufuor Foundation, in
Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia,
Malawi, and Rwanda. He has presented his research on
educational system development and capacity building at
academic conferences around the world and continues to
do research on human and institutional capacity
development.