Karin Melin is, since a couple of weeks ago, the new Programme Director for ICLD’s International Training Programmes. She succeeds Lars Lööf who has retired. Photo: Maria Jansson
Here Karin tells a little more about herself:
“For most of my professional life, I have had the privilege of working with international development work. The common thread of my work has always been how to build democratic and sustainable societies and create short and long-term change. I consciously choose the word “build” because it is really about building- one block being added to another. All elements are needed if we are to achieve a solid whole.
I have always been active and engaged. It perhaps comes from being adventurous or curious. I remember that even as a child I already had a great curiosity and desire to understand myself and my world. To reflect, question and, above all, dare to re-examine arguments, I learned early on.
During my travels, I have never ceased to marvel at people’s inherent power and ability to create meaning, even in the most difficult of circumstances. It does not matter if you are in an inaccessible small mountain village in Laos or in a big city like Abidjan. However, I have also been struck by how quickly democratic values, what we may sometimes take for granted, can quickly erode and be destroyed. Democracy is really a fresh product!
To now have the opportunity to work at ICLD is a privilege!
It is a fantastic organization with an important mission, namely, to bring together people from different continents to jointly try to solve many of the global challenges we face from the local perspective. I hope to be able to contribute with new ideas and perspectives, a broad network of contacts, and a drive to try to find new exciting forms of collaboration.”