Development,
Social change, Transition societies, Role of youth, Entrepreneurship development,
Governance and people strengthening practices, Volunteers development
Asset Based Community
Development Micro credits and finance
Ignorance of Ability Brings Disability
"This is a short film I did in 2005
and it was nominated for
India-International Film Festival on disability
......"
5.4 million
Australians volunteer with that figure representing
approximately 35% of the population. The estimated value
of volunteering is
$70 billion. The complete survey report is available on the
There is only one place on
earth called Dubrovnik and all the
excitement of this city will be captured in
an exciting conference program and after
conference extensions that will make your
week to ten days in Europe completely
memorable.
Keynote lectures:
Phillip Zimbardo,
Ervin Staub,
Michael D. Clark,
Lena Dominelli and
Cynthia Eriksson.
Coping & Resilience International
Conference Dubrovnik 2009
The
Coping & Resilience International
Conference Dubrovnik 2009 (C&R
Dubrovnik 2009)
will bring together practitioners,
researchers, community activists and
academics working in the
trans-disciplinary area of human
coping with diverse challenging life
circumstances and interested in the
fascinating capacity of human
resilience to most adverse life
events. The conference
aims
to advance evidence-based practices
in resilience promotion and hope
building. It will look at interplay
of individual, family, community and
social responsibility factors in
resilience and provide directions
for future practice and research. It
will create the most stimulating
forum for people interested in the
central themes of coping and
resilience who will not want to miss
this platform to listen to and learn
from each other. The C&R Conference
Dubrovnik 2009 will attract
participants from all continents
keen to advance collaboration and
networking among different regions
and professional fields.
The conference will be held from 3rd
to 6th October, 2009, in the
world famous area of Dubrovnik, at the
location in Cavtat which is the pearl of
the south Adriatic Sea.
Conference themes
Given the variety of approaches to
studying coping and resilience issues
and practicing skills to enhance both,
the conference will provide a forum for
addressing them from very different
perspectives. Some of the illustrative
topics are listed bellow:
Cross-cultural patterns of coping
with hardships
Coping patterns and resilience
factors in migration and
acculturation
Personal and developmental factors
in coping and resilience
Interventions for children and youth
to enhance resilience in adverse
circumstances
Strengths based practice in child
protection and child safety
Resilience after loss and grief
Poverty, structural inequalities and
and human resilience: implications
for policy making
Challenges of coping with disability
Gender issues in coping and
resilience
Resilience mechanisms in recovery
from individual and collective
trauma
Posttraumatic growth after extreme
suffering
Challenges of reconciliation in
multi-ethnic and post-conflict
societies
Best practices in helping
individuals in crisis
Best practices in empowering
communities facing crisis and
disasters
Asset-based community development
Spirituality as a coping resource
Spirituality, healing systems,
alternative therapies and meditation
in enhancing resilience
Remote rural communities, indigenous
people and coping with life
challenges
Strengthening resilience through
e-communities and use of information
technology
Who will be at the conference?
The range of applied, clinical,
scientific, legal, social and policy
issues that will be addressed in the
conference program make it directly
relevant to psychologists,
psychiatrists, social workers,
rehabilitation consultants, counsellors
and psychotherapists, GP’s and medical
specialists; cultural anthropologists,
youth workers, NGO activists, community
and humanitarian workers; spiritual
leaders; emergency service and disaster
workers, defence, police; justice and
legal professionals, human rights
advocates and policy makers;
researchers, academics and educators. In
short the conference will be a blend of
practitioners, researchers, consumers,
and decision makers.
International Conference organised by the Brisbane Institute of
Strengths Based Practice
AusAID is
responsible for managing Australia's
overseas aid program. The objective of the
aid program is to assist developing
countries reduce poverty and achieve
sustainable development, in line with
Australia's national interest.
AusAID
provides advice and support to the Minister
and Parliamentary Secretary on development
policy, and plans and coordinates poverty
reduction activities in partnership with
developing countries.
AusAID's head
office is in Canberra. AusAID also has
representatives in 25
Australian diplomatic missions overseas.
Venkat Pulla, Ph.D., MAASW (Accredited)
Brisbane Institute for Strengths Based
Practice (BISBP), Australia
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Dinka Corkalo Biruski, Chair
Department of Psychology, University of
Zagreb, Croatia
Marina Ajdukovic
School of Social Work, University of Zagreb,
Croatia
Lesley Chenoweth
School of Social Work, Griffith University,
Australia
Dusko Sekulic
Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb,
Croatia
Raija - Lena Punamaki
University of Tampere, Finland and European
Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS)
Michael Wessells
Columbia University, USA
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Dean Ajdukovic, Chair
SPA, Croatia
Peter Binyon, Vice Chair
BISBP
Dragan Bombek
BISBP
Petra Drazic
SPA
Dubravka Horvaticek
SPA
Dragan Jusupovic
SPA
Chris Montgomery
BISBP
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Zahava Solomon
Israel
Yael Danieli
New York, USA
Sven Hessle
Stockholm, Sweden
Veronika Ispanovic
Belgrade, Serbia
Juergen Nowak
Berlin, Germany (TBC)
Merle Friedman
Johannesburg, South Africa
Nora Sveaass
Oslo, Norway
Dean Ajdukovic, Ph.D., is a professor
of psychology at the Department of
Psychology and Head of the Chair of Social
Psychology, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
He is the head of the Chair for social
psychology, and former chairperson of the
Department and past director of Postgraduate
Psychology Program. He has extensive
experience in working with refugees and
victims of organized violence, social
reconstruction and mental health
interventions in communities affected by
violence and social transition, especially
in work with families exposed to violence.
He has published over 90 papers in journals
and books in Croatian, English, Macedonian,
Russian and Albanian and he has lectured in
a number of centers of excellence in the US
and Europe. He serves as consultant and
trainer in a number of countries on
psychosocial program development and
evaluation, trauma and violence, NGO
strengthening, community crisis
interventions. He has been often invited to
work in countries affected by upheaval such
as Albania, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Ingushetia. He is president of the Society
for Psychological Assistance (SPA), a
regional mental health non-governmental
organization based in Zagreb, Croatia,
member of the Council of the International
Society for Health and Human Rights (ISHHR,
since 1998) and past president (2003-2005)
and Board member (1997-2007) of the European
Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS).
Venkat
Pulla, PhD is President of Brisbane
Institute of Strengths based Practice.
Venkat is an accredited Senior Practitioner
of Social Work well recognised in Australia
and overseas as a highly committed trainer
of human values and strengths based social
work practice frameworks. Venkat is Vice
President of the Australian Association of
Social Workers and is a member of the
accreditation panel for schools of social
work in Australia.
Venkat spent some 14 years in teaching
social work and a couple of years in
training public sector management through
DFID Projects in Metros India. In India he
received a Fellowship of the Ashoka
International Foundation in Washington and
received other supports to become an
international travelling activist/ lecturer
for two years covering countries such as
Germany, Netherlands, UK, Thailand,
Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India and the USA,
presenting on the inextricable relationships
between He moved to Australia in 1992 and
became the foundation Head of Social Work at
the Northern Territory University, Darwin.
Since 1996 Venkat worked extensively with
refugees and migrants being the Acting
Coordinator of Brisbane Migrant Resource
Centre. Later, he moved to public sector to
work in Child Protection amongst other
areas. He holds a Senior Social Work
position in the Disability Services of the
State of Queensland.
Venkat
Pulla, PhD is President of Brisbane
Institute of Strengths based Practice.
Venkat is an accredited Senior Practitioner
of Social Work well recognised in Australia
and overseas as a highly committed trainer
of human values and strengths based social
work practice frameworks. Venkat is Vice
President of the Australian Association of
Social Workers and is a member of the
accreditation panel for schools of social
work in Australia.