Ch11 Tools of Participatory development communication

Lesson 13 Tools of Participatory development communication Introduction Communication Tools Communication tools already in use in the local community, costs, time and technical conditions of use, and various kinds of utilization. We stressed that we are not using media with a view to disseminate information and knowledge from a resource person (researcher or expert) to community members, but to facilitate the realization of the set of actions a community decides to implement, in order to act on a given development problem. Where there is some learning to do, we are reminded that the use of communication tools should go hand in hand with what we have learned from adult education: we should always start from the experiences of people and build an active learning experience. In this third part of the guide, we will first present some user’s notes on examples of communication tools that are often used in the context of communicating with local communities, with a participatory approach. Of course, this list is by no way exhaustive. But we will see that we will find the same elements again and again, independently of the tool itself and that they can be applied to other communication tools as well. In a second section, we will consider usages related to different kinds of utilization (the third criterion of selection). Types of communication tools in PDC Generally, we distinguish between mass media (newspapers, radio, and television), traditional media (storytelling, theatres, songs), “group” media (video, photographs, posters) and community media such as short-range rural radio broadcasting. The media, and the different forms of interpersonal communication, are our communication tools. The following describes some of the tools and techniques you may wish to use in your communication strategy. It may be useful to remember that often the use of more than one approach, tool or medium can strengthen your approach so these should not be viewed in isolation or as independent of one another. Interpersonal communication tools Discussion and Debate Group discussion and debate are widely used. They are so common that we seldom think of them as communication tools. But if we do, we can greatly enhance their utilization. As communication tools, they should support a given activity (in this case, generally a community meeting), in order to reach a specific objective. Usually, the objective will consist of raising an issue publicly, stimulating awareness and preparing for other activities. A large group discussion is not always the best tool though to facilitate participation. Often, only certain categories of people will talk, offer their arguments or ask questions. In many settings, young people or women will not talk in front of the older men. And of course, many topics cannot be discussed openly in public. The effectiveness of discussion and debate resides in its complementarily with other activities, for example discussions with smaller and more focused groups. Visioning Sessions The same applies to visioning sessions of a film or video. Usually, these sessions are organized during a public meeting where resource persons talk about a given issue, and where, after the projection, a discussion is organized. This tool is very effective in raising awareness on a specific issue, or to introduce knowledge or behavior elements, but as a single activity, it has little potential to stimulate participation to work out some solutions. Again, the effectiveness of the tool is linked with the organization of other activities, again with smaller and more focused groups. Focus Group Discussions A focus group discussion is held with a small number of people (7–10) who share similar characteristics. The information obtained through this technique is considered valid for other community members who demonstrate those characteristics. The discussion evolves along the lines of a discussion guide, prepared before hand, but the questions are open-ended. The idea is to enable every participant to express his/her opinions on a given topic. In many cases, a focus group discussion can also evolve in a strategy-developing activity, with each participant contributing not only to the identification of a problem, causes or solutions, but also in a strategy which could facilitate community participation to the resolution of that problem and the experimentation of the potential solutions. PRA Techniques Participatory rural appraisal techniques are well documented and used in the field. The exercises can include the use of different techniques like collective mapping of the local area, developing a time line, ranking the importance of problems inside a matrix, wealth ranking, doing observation walks, using Venn diagrams, producing season ability diagrams, etc. As communication tools, they give us a lot of of information in a limited time span about the characterization of natural resources in a given area and basic social, economic and political information, in order to plan a development or research project. As such, they are powerful tools for facilitating the participation of community members. But as mentioned earlier, they can also be used restrictively, when the different techniques are not fully in the hands of the participants and remain techniques used by the research team only to gather information for their own purposes. The main idea in using PRA is to collect information quickly with the participation of community members and to share it so that everyone becomes empowered by that information and can participate better in the analysis and decision-making processes. When this does not happen, and when researchers or development practitioners go back with the information without nurturing this empowerment process, the technique is not applied as it should. In fact, such a process can be detrimental because researchers and practitioners then think that they are doing participatory work, when, in fact community members are only “being participated”. Role-Playing Role-playing can be a very interesting way to facilitate participation in a small group, identify attitudes and collect views and perceptions. In a role-play, two to five people take a specific identity and play the interaction between the characters. It is interesting when the situation asks for one character to make a case before the other ones or try to influence them. As an example, one character could take the role of a researcher coming to the community, and another would play a community member. Each would simulate a situation in which the researcher engages in a dialogue with the community member to identify her communication needs regarding a specific natural resource management initiative. After the play, a discussion follows. Each participant explains what happens in her group and how she felt in the guise of her character interacting with the other character. The facilitator underlines the main ideas related to the topic of discussion and links the exercise with the topic of discussion. Afterward, the participants and the facilitator evaluate if they reached the objective of the activity. Visits, Tours, Workshops and Exhibitions Home visits are an excellent way to raise awareness on a given topic and to collect the views of people on a given problem. Often, people who will not speak openly in a community meeting, or who will not participate in it, will be more at ease to share views and information in the context of their home or their field. In the context of rural poor, it is often more effective when contact farmers instead of the research team itself make the visits, or when contact farmers accompany the research team. Tours and visits by farmers to other farmers are useful to demonstrate some solutions, which have been used in other settings, and also to raise the motivation to try them out and experiment with them. But to be more effective, they should be prepared by the farmers who are going to visit, after many discussions on the problems they face and the solutions they could implement, instead of having farmers participate in a tour by itself. The organization of a workshop on a given topic is useful to present and discuss specific technologies, which can support solutions to a given problem, or to assemble similarly minded people in order to develop a common strategy. It is however often more effective regrouping resource persons and collaborators from the community than community members themselves. Farmers often will not feel at ease in the context of a workshop given in the city, and the poorest and more marginalized people certainly will not come. So attention must be paid to the issue of who is at ease with the formula and who is not. Finally, on-farm exhibitions and on-farm experimental plots, are more effective than exhibitions or plots at an experimental station. They are however are more difficult to organize, except if contact farmers and participating resource organizations identify them as a workable strategy and help in their realization. “Group” media tools Photography, Drawings, Flip Charts When considering using photography (or drawings), we usually think of taking pictures to illustrate what we want to discuss with other people, and use them during a visioning session, or as cards or posters. It is in fact a very flexible and supportive tool. But there are also other ways to use this tool. One utilization consists of producing what people in West Africa have called flip chart. It is a succession of photographs or drawings that tell a story with three to ten pictures, and without any text. The images illustrate problem situations and situations where the problem is resolved. It is used with the facilitator asking people what they see in the images. This tool is very effective in stimulating discussion, comparing points of view and developing consensus on a given issue. The images can be drawn, printed or glued on paper or cloth. The same process can be used by making a game of cards from those photographs or drawings and distributing the cards from one person to another, each trying to identify the image and commenting on the situation. Another interesting utilization consists in giving disposable photo cameras to people in the field, asking them to photograph problematic situations they have to cope with or solutions they would like to see adopted and multiplied. An exhibition is made and discussions are conducted to identify strategies for action. Similarly, photographs can be used with a discussion where people put forth their points of view with the help of what they illustrated, or to present a “before” and an “after” situation. They are also powerful tools in the context of home visits, where they can be used to ask people what they see in the pictures and how they feel about the situation. Posters and Banners Posters and banners are often used to raise awareness on a topic. As such they are not very effective in facilitating participation. It is important to combine them with interactive activities with community members. At that point they can be used as the flip chart process, instead of being just glued on a specific spot. This being said, sometimes the realization of posters or of banners by community members can become a rich communication activity. For example, it can be quite effective with children, in order to raise awareness on a specific issue, or with farmers, in order to illustrate a given technology. In the latter, a resource person will work with the research team and community members to develop the poster along the guidelines of community members. The discussion along this activity is often very rich and productive. Video Recordings Today, digital video cameras make the use of video simple. They come with batteries that can last up to 7 or 8 hours, and can fit in a small backpack. They also have a screen that can be used not only to capture but also to show immediately the images to a small group of people. They are very easy to learn to operate and handle and make a good tool that community members can use by themselves. As in the case of photography, video is usually used to illustrate a given problem or to demonstrate a given solution, by way of a program put together by the research team or produced elsewhere. In cases where the document is produced by the research team, it is always more effective when it is done in a participatory way, including community members, in the planning, scenario development and realization. Video is also more effective when it positions a problem and documents the causes without suggesting solutions. Those are to come from participants viewing the documentary. As in the example of disposable cameras, it can also be a tool put in the hands of community members for them to show an aspect of a problem or solution, or record a “video letter”. A powerful utilization of video is what is known as the “Fogo Process” (the name comes from a Canadian island where it was first used). In this process, video is used to introduce an issue and is followed by a community discussion. The discussion is captured and shown to the community afterward where it triggers other discussions to bring forth a consensus for action. In some contexts, the discussion of the issue by a community can also be shown to other communities, where the discussion is also recorded, etc. Audio Recordings Audio recording can be used to capture the views of community members and stir a discussion afterward on these views. The recording can be played on tape recorders in the context of a community meeting or small group discussions, but it can also be broadcast on the radio when such collaboration has been achieved. Audio recordings of songs and dances and the use of small audio players can also be effective tools for community members working with the research team to reach other members of their communities. Audiocassette forums have also been used with some success. In this approach, tape recorders and cassettes are given to specific community groups, who decide on their content and discuss the problems and potential solutions to implement. “Traditional” media tools Theatre The same considerations can be said of using theatre or other traditional media: it must be complementary to a process involving a set of interactive activities. Usually, theatre is used to raise awareness on a given issue. A play will often attract a large number of people in the rural areas, but will not do much by itself to accompany a community initiative to resolve a given problem. It must be part of a global strategy and like other communication tools, contribute to the identification of a given development problem and a concrete initiative set up by the community. Theatre debate (where a debate with the audience follows the play) and theatre forum (where some parts of the play are played again by audience members, usually to try to convince a character of the play to change her behavior) are powerful techniques used to address critical issues. But again, they must be linked to a longer-term initiative in order to accompany a development initiative in the community. Another strategy is to have specific community groups participate in the writing and production of the play. When the play addresses specific problems and demonstrates useful solutions, the message is much more convincing when the actors are people from the community. Songs, Music, Sayings, Stories Songs and music are powerful tools, whether they are used to create an ambience or produced in a way to deliver a message, they can greatly facilitate a process of sharing points of view and contribute to awareness raising. Again, they are only tools. Sayings and proverbs have also been used in order to facilitate discussion on a given topic. Stories, especially hiatus stories, which have to be filled in the middle or completed at the end also can create an ambience, raise awareness and facilitate group discussions. “Mass” media tools Rural Radio As everyone recognizes, rural radio is an especially appropriate tool for reaching large groups, or groups beyond the immediate vicinity. Many producers working with rural radio are aware of participatory communication and will steer clear of the conventional “journalistic” approach. For example, they will attempt to include discussion panels in their broadcasting, and will do their best to make local voices heard. There are two important provisos, however, for using radio successfully: first, it is important to enlist a producer (or the broadcast authorities) in the initiative and work with her in planning the entire communication process. This means an ongoing cooperative relationship, and not just occasional requests for help. Maintaining such a relationship is not always easy and requires constant attention. Secondly, it will be necessary to put together the funding needed to produce the spots or broadcasts (local FM stations often charge less than others), or to seek an exemption from the ministry or agency responsible. For these reasons radio is not used as widely as it could by communicators working with participatory approaches involving specific community groups. The use of rural radio should also be combined with field work to ensure that communication flows in both directions: in this case, radio can either follow or support a communication initiative being undertaken at the same time, or it can be made an integral part of that initiative as a means for allowing people to express themselves. Local Press Local press is of course not an interactive medium. But it can greatly assist the efforts of a participatory development initiative, by informing the community or targeted decision makers on the evolution of the initiative. Again, collaboration with a journalist at the beginning of the initiative may develop into a partnership, while occasionally requesting the participation of a journalist may be considered a demand of services. Television Television is not used the way it could mostly because of the costs involved. In some countries where it is well-developed, community television can host debates and interventions, giving them the reach that working with small specific groups cannot have. But this is seldom the case. In other countries, there is sometimes the possibility to connect with the producer of development programs and use television to illustrate the realization of a given community initiative, thus influencing other communities to embark on such a venture. But again, this is not very common. There is a lot of potential though to use television in a participatory way by relying on community television viewing and discussion clubs. Experiences in India and Africa have been quite successful in using that tool. But again, costs have made it unsustainable. “Information and communication technologies” tools The Computer as a Slide Show Projector Portable computers now also come with batteries that can be self-sufficient for many hours. They also fit easily in a carry-all bag. With software like PowerPoint or others, it is easy to store photographs, maps, video sequences, etc. and show them to specific groups in the field or in poor communities where there is no access to electricity. Photographs taken by the community members can also be scanned and integrated into such presentations. Likewise, comparing satellite maps with community maps, or viewing the data on the availability of water, and comparing with indigenous knowledge on the issue, etc. can be powerful activities. Using the Internet The Internet, especially through the use of e-mail, can link together different community initiatives. This type of communication can motivate the actors in the development initiative, and enable them to get support or relevant information or to exchange ideas. In some cases, it is feasible to produce a web page for an initiative. Again, for the actors involved in the development initiative, it contributes to breaking the sense of isolation and nurtures the motivation to act, knowing that progress on what they are doing can be known around the world. Again, this information can also be used in the context of a similar development initiative carried out elsewhere, to show what other people have been doing in a similar context. Identifying communication tools for different kinds of applications. This second section discusses the identification of appropriate tools for different usages. For our purposes, we will consider the following usages: Triggering the process of participatory communication. Supporting and moderating discussion groups. Extending group discussion sessions. Reaching other groups or participants beyond the immediate locale. Supporting learning and the exchange of knowledge. Evaluating and keeping a record of activities. Again, this list is of course not exhaustive. The main idea is that we have to identify the use we want to make of a communication tool in a given communication activity. Triggering the process of participatory communication The first stage in the approach to participatory development communication consists of helping to identify a problem, its causes, and deciding on actions to take to resolve it.