From the 17-19 March 12 teams of social justice champions from 8 countries will be gathering at The Dartington Hall Trust to take part in the first ever international conference into the most effective use of social research evidence in the child and adult services.

The conference, which is tagged ‘Beyond the Rhetoric’, will run for three full days and is being supported by the Nuffield Foundation and Dartington’s Social Justice department Research in Practice (RiP) and their sister organisation, Research in Practice for Adults (RiPfA).

Celia Atherton OBE said, “the Dartington Hall Trust, RiP and RiPfA are delighted to be able to host ‘Beyond the Rhetoric’, which is aimed at influencing the influencers and sharing international best practice into the most effective ways to improve the lives of adults and children around the world”

Sharon Witherspoon, Deputy Director at Nuffield said, “In the hurly-burly of working to improve practice and bring evidence and practice closer together, it is sometimes hard to make the space to stand back, reflect and experiment.’

‘By bringing together a number of organisations working in different countries, with different workforces – but all determined to improve the lives of children and adults – we hope that real learning may take place, some larger lessons may be shared, and even new ideas about how to proceed may emerge. This seems entirely in keeping with the broader Dartington tradition and the Nuffield Foundation is delighted to be able to help make this possible.”

The 12 teams are coming from as far as Australia and Canada and each will be bringing the latest social research evidence, so that the discussions and workshops can generate new thinking and real answers.

Dartingon has been chosen as the perfect location for the conference because of its international reputation as a place on inspiration and the huge success of RiP and RiPfA to generate positive change throughout the UK children and adult services.

Karin Alexanderson a delegate from the Swedish team said, “We are coming to the workshop because It is a great opportunity to discuss and reflect with people from other countries, with the aim of developing best practice for evidence informed practice in social work. We chose Dartington because of the excellent relationship we have with RiP and RiPfA and the beauty of the location, which will almost certainly enhance the learning experience.”

Celia Atherton OBE (RiP) and Alison Petch the Director of Research in Practice for Adults (RiPfA) will both be available for interview on March 10, 12 and 13, where they will be more than happy to talk about what ‘Beyond the Rhetoric’ will mean to Devon, social research practice and the children and adult services.