The Year in Photos
As 2017 draws to a close, Groundviews shares a selection of photos taken over the course of the year, covering a variety of issues, from displacement and militarisation in the North to…
Author: Groundviews
#justaphotolka : Highlighting and Pushing Back Against Ongoing Surveillance in Vavuniya
On November 24, two youth were questioned in Vavuniya around posts they had made on Facebook. One of the photos was of the Divisional Secretariat of Vavuniya North, Nandukerni, and specifically, a…
Soundbites and sound bytes: Future of digital conversations in Sri Lanka
Even before the end of the war in 2009, but certainly after it, conversations on society, politics, culture, religion and other vital matters are moving online to digital spaces, or are increasingly…
Colombo: The making of a world class city
‘Colombo – the making of a world class city’, a photography exhibition that interrogates and critiques post-war city making in Colombo opens this weekend at the Global Voices Summit 2017 at Trace…
Floating Space Theatre Co. presents ‘rite | now’ at Global Voices Summit
How much do we remember of the time before the internet? How much of ourselves will we leave behind because of the internet, and how much of this do we imagine we…
Sri Lanka’s Digital Future to Take Centre Stage At Global Voices Summit
The international citizen media network, Global Voices, will be holding their biennial Summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka on December 2-3, 2017. The event will take place at TRACE Expert City in Maradana,…
Breaking Down the Interim Report: On Proposals for Devolution and the State
October 30 marked the beginning of a Parliamentary debate around the recently released draft interim report on constitutional reform by the Steering Committee in the Constitutional Assembly. In order to better inform the commentary…
Constitutional reform, communications & political transformation: An interview with Mark Freeman
Mark Freeman is the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT). As noted on IFIT’s website, Mark is a Belgian and Canadian citizen. He is a leading expert…
Colombia, Sri Lanka and referendums: Interview with Juanita Goebertus
Juanita Goebertus is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Integrated Transitions. On a recent trip to Colombo, she shared some thoughts on the Colombian referendum, how it came about, her vast experience…
Beyond Box-Ticking: Unpacking Pablo de Greiff’s Statement on Sri Lanka
November 6 marks the deadline for candidate applications for the Office of Missing Persons (OMP). The signing of the Office of Missing Persons gazette drew praise from the UN, with United Nations Secretary-General António…
Breaking Down The Interim Report
October 30 marks the beginning of a Parliamentary debate around the recently released draft interim report on constitutional reform by the Steering Committee in the Constitutional Assembly. In order to better inform the…
#DialogDown : Tracking the Network Disruption on Twitter
On the afternoon of September 20th, Dialog suffered disruptions to its service and network coverage for less than an hour. This affected voice, data and SMS services on mobile phones – quite…
‘Corridors of Power’ exhibition in Kurunegala
Royal International School Auditorium, Kurunegala 23 (Saturday) & 24 (Sunday) September 2017, from 10am-5pm daily Entrance free. Interactive, guided tours of the exhibition by the Curator will be conducted on both days…
Counting What Counts in Development
NEW YORK – To most people, “development” is best measured by the quantity of change – like gains in average income, life expectancy, or years spent in school. The Human Development Index (HDI), a composite measure…
#anticorruptlka: On Combating Corruption and Complicity
On August 28th, Groundviews hosted a Twitter chat themed around corruption, using the hashtag #anticorruptlka. Participants included Executive Director of Transparency International, Asoka Obeysekere, Research Director at Verité Research, Gehan Gunatilleke, Chilaw…