How can I take part in EDP and what formalities do I need to observe?
Please e-mail our program officer (joerg.hilgers@agiamondo.org) and request information about the program you would like to participate in (concept, cost contribution, individual travel organization, appointments for group preparation etc.). If you or your employer can make participation possible, formally register for EDP participation (including providing personal details, insurance cover, and consent to safeguarding policy and media use). Nota bene: You must speak the common international lingua franca in the exposure host country (e.g. English) to be able to communicate in everyday situations. For your exchange with hosts and other people who do not speak the international lingua franca of the region, you will be supported by a local language mediator. If you would required language mediation e.g. from German or any other language into the international lingua franca, we can organize this for you.
How are EDP participants groups usually made up?
Typically, EDP groups are composed of 10 to 16 people: Managers and duty bearers from politics, the private sector, international development cooperation, civil society, and/or religious communities. Based on their individual life and professional experiences and against their different professional backgrounds the participants complement each other. Their different perspectives and personal motivations shaping the topic at hand or the social, economic, and cultural contexts in which the respective exposure and dialogue programme is located enrich the dialogue with each other and with the partners in the host country.
How much time should I expect to spend participating in EDP (including preparation and follow-up)?
- EDP participation in the host country: usually one working week plus one weekend, each, for travel to/from (approx. 8 to 10 days)
- One preparatory and one follow-up/evaluation meeting of approx. 4 hours each; plus travel to/from (approx. 1.5 to 2 days in total) – N.B. Non-German residents can participate in hybrid (online) meetings prior to, and after the programme on site.
- Medical prophylaxis for travel and personal travel organization (booking international flight, visa procurement, arranging personal luggage) in advance: 1 day
- Reporting on experiences and lessons learnt after EDP participation on site: 1 day
Total: approx. 12 to 14 days over a period of three to six months (preparation, EDP participation on-site, and follow-up).
What does participation in EDP cost and what do I pay for?
Unless the respective programme is co-funded by third parties, we ask you to contribute a cost sharing at the amount of €4,900.00 plus meeting your individual travel and incidental expenses for:
- Intercontinental flight ticket (you will book flights yourself)
- International travel and health insurance
- Medical prophylaxis for your travel
- Visa procurement
- Travel to/from a preparatory meeting and a follow-up/evaluation meeting (e.g. in Cologne, Berlin, Frankfurt, in case you are resident in, or close to Germany)
Our services:
- Intense preparation for participation incl. advice on logistics: individually, and in group meetings; logistics consulting; having individual or group preparatory meetings around three weeks before the start of the program on-site
- Detailed information material for individual preparation
- Domestic transportation (domestic flights, bus, 4WD vehicles) incl. airport transfers
- Board & Lodging (host families, hotel)
- Professional support from our usually English-speaking "Exposure Facilitators"
- Support & advice from the AGIAMONDO EDP team and representatives of local partners in all program phases on-site
- Conduct evaluation and follow-up meetings of the group of participants
- Ensure evaluation & documentation of program results and agreed follow-up steps
Who is funding or supporting EDP? Who is in charge of the Exposure and Dialogue Programmes?
AGIAMONDO e.v. receives a subsidy for personnel and administrative costs from Catholic Church tax revenue to be able to design exposure and dialog programmes. The individual EDP measures are refinanced by participants’ cost sharing contributions and, raised from time to time, through project-related donations.
AGIAMONDO e. V. has been commissioned to operate the programmes. However, neither AGIAMONDO e. V. nor the EDP Association (Exposure- und Dialogprogramme e.V.) do receive institutional funding for EDP implementation from public budgets.
Each individual programme is a joint effort of Exposure- und Dialogprogramme e. V., EDP alumni, AGIAMONDO e. V. as commissioned operator, the host partner organizations or host companies involved as EDP co-organizers as well as respective EDP participants themselves, who contribute their cost sharing.
How can I commission the concept development and implementation of an exposure and dialogue programme?
Please contact us, if you have a viable project idea that you would like to work on using Exposure & Dialog® methodology. In joint cooperation with you and our partners, we will explore the interests, institutional objectives, as well as the feasibility of your idea in terms of EDP compatibility and organization. The feasibility of an individual EDP project increases with the number of executives and decision-makers who can be recruited to join the programme and the acquisition of funds for concept development, preparation and implementation. Do not hesitate to contact us and request a brief concept outline and preliminary cost estimate.
Which partners do EDP e. V. and AGIAMONDO e. V. work with and why?
When developing and implementing EDP concepts, we work together with State agencies, private sector companies, or Religious and civil society organisations, inclusive of trade unions, media, multi-stakeholder-initiatives and all people of "goodwill" who share our objectives. This also applies to internationally active non-governmental organizations and multilateral actors (for example EDP Uganda 2022: Jesuit Refugee Service, UNHCR, Government of Uganda/Office of the Prime Minister).
We cooperate with HR development managers in our network of stakeholders (e.g. Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development/BMZ, GIZ, KfW Bankengruppe incl. DEG, Engagement Global, VENRO, the Catholic and Protestant Churches, the civil society (humanitarian) aid organizations, the Central Committee of German Catholics, the German Commission for Justice and Peace, Catholic dioceses and aid organisations).
We work together with the democratically-minded parliamentary groups of the German Bundestag, the parliaments of the Regional states as well as their members who participate(d) in EDP or are interested in sharing exposure lessons learnt when conducting dialogue and educational events.
Both, the AGIAMONDO e. V. (reg. no.: R001829) and the Exposure- und Dialogprogramme e. V. (reg. no.: R001435) are registered in the lobby register of the German Bundestag as interest groups for “Foreign Cultural and Education Policy; International Relations; Human Rights; Development Policy; Religion/Worldview; Climate Protection; Sustainability and Resource Conservation” (AGIAMONDO) and "Development Policy" (EDP e. V.).
How to access scientific reference on "Exposure und Dialog®"?
Renwick Irvine, Robert Chambers and Rosalind Eyben (2004), Lessons for Change in Policy & Organizations, No. 13, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies: Download PDF file
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Izzy Birch, Raffaella Catani, Robert Chambers, in: Participatory Learning and Action, PLA 57: Immersions: learning about poverty face-to-face (December 2007); incl.: "A portrait of the Exposure and Dialogue Programme Association" (Jörg Hilgers) www.iied.org/14558iied
Dominik Blum, Jörg Hilgers, "Machen Sie sich keine Sorgen - wir werden einen Weg finden! Lerngeschichten von Begegnungen in einem Exposure- und Dialog-Programm in Guatemala", p. 38ff., in: Lernen durch Begegnung. Jahrbuch der Religionspädagogik (JRP), Vol. 21, Norbert Mette et. al. (Eds.), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG; 1st edition (November 10, 2005) - German, only
