The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and the Woodside community, St. Mary will host a Conference honouring George Beckford from April 23 to 24, 2004. The venue is the Woodside Community Centre and the Anglican Church at Woodside in St. Mary. The theme is Communities in Partnership for Empowerment: A Woodside/University of the West Indies Initiative. The conference brings together rural community leaders, UWI academics and community based organizations specialists to share the best practices in sustainable community development. This two-day conference marks the launch of the Woodside/UWI partnership in establishing a rural community learning laboratory, for citizens and students. It is also designed to share and develop benchmarks in building self-knowledge as a basis for self-esteem, self-confidence and overall community empowerment. A number of UWI social scientists and historians, as well as community development specialists, educators, government representatives and community members will be involved in two days of discussions and presentations. Additionally, there will be music, dancing, storytelling and other entertainment on the Friday and Saturday nights. There is a one-time registration fee of JA $200. Overnight accommodation is available in the village (at US $ 20:00 per night including breakfast and supper). Interested persons can make arrangements for accommodation by contacting Mrs. Pearl Crossman, Accommodations Coordinator, at 999-1822. For persons in need of transportation a shuttle service will be available from the UWI at 7:00 a.m. on both days. For further details please contact Damion Blake, Organizing Secretariat at 423-7538 or 927-2592.