The Deep Dive is one of the Melton Foundation's signature programs. Fellows “dive in” to specific local contexts to help tackle a local community’s problem through their expertise and knowledge. At the same time, Deep Dives give Fellows true in-depth insight into that community, as well as an experiential understanding of the local manifestations of a global problem.
Though each Deep Dive is tailored to the specific local context, a typical Deep Dive brings small and multi-disciplinary groups of Fellows together for about six months and includes three phases:
This in-depth engagement is a way for Senior Fellows, who have work experience and expertise in specific areas – from medicine to technology to arts – to apply their skills and make an impact in a context that is often very different from their own. They then take back that experience and apply it to their own communities, work and actions.
Deep Dives may take place anywhere in the world, one place at a time, in partnership with local communities or organizations.
Our Deep Dive 2015 took us to Mañiuco, a rural primary school outside Temuco. In collaboration with the Mañiuco Community Education Project Team and the school community, we explored the contexts of public, rural schooling and indigenous peoples in Chile to build bridges towards a new level of global citizenship education.
In 2013, the Melton Foundation partnered with Noumenm, a community-based project developed by a Melton Fellow, Pedro Poblete, and his local partners to address the needs of the village of Bassin Thomas in Haiti. Fellows and partners explored the possibilities and limitations of international aid in community development. They repaired motorcycles, learned about sustainable agricultural practices, and taught workshops on preventing and treating cholera.
Are you a local organization looking for intercultural, multinational expertise? Ask us about an opportunity to collaborate with our network!
