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Issue Addressed: To explore insights and perspectives of a collective impact (CI) partnership taking on a new project that aimed to reduce sugary drink consumption and promote water as the drink of choice across North East Melbourne. Methods: A qualitative case study was undertaken. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in the partnership. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Fourteen organisations participated in the North East Healthy Drinks Alliance. The data demonstrated that investing in developing a common agenda supported the establishment of a CI approach. The backbone organisation was found to have played a crucial role in coordinating the activities of the Alliance. This coordination was found to be particularly important in terms of ensuring that organisations were able to work on mutually reinforcing activities at their own pace. Program planning and reporting was managed through open continuous communication by the backbone organisation. The data collected pertains to the activities of the Alliance in its first 2 years, prior to the development of a shared measurement strategy, thus no data was collected on this aspect of the collective impact framework. Although some participants were found to have limited knowledge of CI, this did not seem to hinder their participation in the Alliance. Conclusion: Selecting a relevant and accessible focus area and investing in developing a common agenda supported the establishment of a CI approach. So What?: The CI framework offers a valuable tool for undertaking cross‐sectoral, local partnerships for health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Africa Orogenic Belt (CAOB) and the Transaharan and Sergipano belts form a major West Gondwana suturing orogen affected by D1–D4 compressional deformation. Microstructural observations, mineral chemistry, zircon, and titanite laser ablation ICP-MS U-Pb dating, and biotite, muscovite, and K-feldspar 40Ar-39Ar age data are used to constrain the timing of rocks formation and D1–D4 events in the Yaoundé Domain of the CAOB, as well as characterize the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian transition. The Yaoundé Domain rocks were deposited on a pre-Neoproterozoic structure that was overprinted by a c. 1000–700 Ma mega arc/back-arc system and related Tonian to Ediacaran magmatism. Older U-Pb dates (1000 up to 2700 Ma) are inheritance from a pre-existing crust. The D1–D4 compressional events relate to the inversion of the c. 1000–700 Ma mega-rift system. New dates at c. 700 Ma, c. 630 Ma, c. 580–555 Ma constrain the timing of D1, D2, D3+D4, respectively. The peak of accompanying metamorphism occurred at 614 ± 4 Ma during D2. This was followed by a c. 115 Ma period of deformation-driven crustal exhumation and cooling that extended into the Cambrian. New data document short episodes of rapid denudation and cooling (up to 0.9 km/Ma and 40°C/Ma at c. 578 Ma in gneiss and up to 5 km/Ma and >125°C/Ma at c. 555 Ma in micaschist). It is proposed that the CAOB and correlative belts are parts of the orogenic hinterland formed from accretion and collision between the West African Craton and the Sahara Metacraton precursor. The correlated belts appear to represent the result of a protracted tectono-metamorphic and magmatic process that started in late Mesoproterozoic (c. 1167 Ma) and continued through the Neoproterozoic to the Cambrian (c. 500 Ma). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colla J MacDonald,1 Douglas Archibald,2 Jay M Baltz,3 Gerald M Kidder4 1Faculty of Education, 2Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 3Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 4Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada Background: A training program in Reproduction, Early Development, and the Impact on Health (REDIH) was initiated in 2009 by researchers specializing in biomedical, clinical, population health, and ethics research from seven collaborating universities in Quebec and Ontario, and Health Canada. This paper reports the findings from the first three years of the 6-year program. Objectives: The objective of the REDIH program is to provide increased opportunities for excellent training in reproduction and early development for graduate students and fellows, in order to build research, clinical, regulatory, decision-making, and industry capacity in Canada. Methods: A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the REDIH training program, so as to combine the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative studies. A total of four focus groups (two with mentors and two with trainees) were run during the June 2012 REDIH meeting. Surveys were administered directly after each training module. The W(e)Learn framework was used as a guide to design and evaluate the program and answer the research questions. Results: The data from the analysis of the focus group interviews, in corroboration with the survey data, suggested trainees enjoyed and benefited from the REDIH experience. Trainees provided several examples of new knowledge and skills they had acquired from REDIH sessions, regarding reproductive and early developmental biology, and health. A few trainees who had been in the program for over a year provided examples of knowledge and skills acquired during the REDIH session that they were using in their place of work. Next steps will include following up on REDIH graduates to see if the program has had any impact on trainees' employment opportunities and career development. Conclusion: Trainees and mentors concluded that the curricular design, which focuses on modules in 2-day learning sessions over a 6-year period, with opportunities for application in the workplace, enabled the sessions to be tailored to the outcomes of the formative evaluation. By sharing our experiences with REDIH, we hope that others can benefit from this unique emerging design, which focuses on the flexibility and receptivity of the mentors, and results in a program that lends itself to curriculum modification and tailoring as learners' needs are solicited and addressed. Keywords: graduate training, mentorship program, program evaluation, reproductive medicine