In September 2018, PhD student, Marlie Holtzhausen participated in an international workshop in Germany, Bonn on “Mobilization for Change: Promoting and Defending Justice for Marginalized People”. It was hosted by the Right to Livelihood College (RLC) global education and forms part of a research initiative at the Center for Development Research (ZEF). The workshop was hosted with the support of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). 

The workshop included PhD students from Asia, Africa and Latin America, development experts and three Laureates from the "Alternative Nobel Prize" which was established in 1980. The focus of the workshop was on the research and practice concerned with marginalized people and their access to opportunities and resources, as well as the (equitable) distribution of the impacts and consequences of unsustainability. 

The transdisciplinary nature of the workshop allowed for in-depth engagements and discussions from various fields and combining case studies from social, economic, and political/cultural sciences with best practice examples from civil society action and agency. For Holtzhausen, it was an invaluable opportunity to share, think, exchange, challenge, learn and grow in understanding through the engagement with a diverse group of people.

Some of the highlights include the following:

• A strengthened knowledge and understanding from various perspectives on concepts of justice and marginalization in a development context. 
•  Exchange of expertise and experience between PhD students, development experts, and “Alternative Nobel Prize” Laureates. 
• Exposure and deeper engagement with others from various backgrounds, contexts, and research and practical experience within development, but with a similar desire to create a more just world through research and practice.
• Becoming part of a much bigger global transdisciplinary community within the development field of research and practice.