The impact of the Mugabe education revolution on academic-practitioner collaborations in Zimbabwe

Set in the context of a country in urgent need of collaborative approaches to knowledge production for national reform and recovery, this paper draws attention to experiences from Zimbabwe that teach us about power relations in academic-practitioner collaborations. The paper argues that power is socially embedded and that society’s perception of both academics and practitioners shape the power hierarchies within their collaboration projects. The paper draws on personal reflections, as well as those from development practitioners and activists who have worked with academics on human rights-related projects. I outline how such collaborations provide opportunities to advance knowledge-driven agendas‚ policies and strategies necessary to help struggling economies such as Zimbabwe, all the while advancing sustainable development. I also draw attention to some of the challenges that arise from this work, particularly how power dynamics can compromise the projects’ efficiency and effectiveness

Walking the talk for dementia: a unique immersive, embodied, and multi‐experiential initiative

Coping with dementia requires an integrated approach encompassing personal, health, research, and community domains. Here we describe “Walking the Talk for Dementia,” an immersive initiative aimed at empowering people with dementia, enhancing dementia understanding, and inspiring collaborations. This initiative involved 300 participants from 25 nationalities, including people with dementia, care partners, clinicians, policymakers, researchers, and advocates for a 4-day, 40 km walk through the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, Spain. A 2-day symposium after the journey provided novel transdisciplinary and horizontal structures, deconstructing traditional hierarchies. The innovation of this initiative lies in its ability to merge a physical experience with knowledge exchange for diversifying individuals' understanding of dementia. It showcases the transformative potential of an immersive, embodied, and multi-experiential approach to address the complexities of dementia collaboratively. The initiative offers a scalable model to enhance understanding, decrease stigma, and promote more comprehensive and empathetic dementia care and research