Communications for Social Change

The Power of Communication to...

• Catalyze change
• Empower individuals
• Strengthen communities
• Promote community building
• Unleash previous unheard voices
  

Communication for Social Change:

a process of public and private dialogue through which people define who they are, what they want, and how they can get it.

Social Change: is a positive change in peoples' lives - as they themselves define such change.

This work seeks particularly to improve the lives of the politically and economically marginalized, and is informed by principles of tolerance, self-determination, equity, social justice and active participation for all.

This approach attempts to rebalance strategic approaches to communication and change by taking the overriding emphasis...

Away from people as objects for change…

… and on to people and communities as the agents of their own change.

Away from designing, testing and delivering messages…

… and on to supporting dialogue and debate on the key issues of concern.

Away from the conveying of information from technical experts…

… and on to sensitively placing that information into the dialogue and debate.

Away from a focus on individual behaviors…

… and on to social norms, policies, culture and a supportive environment.

Away from persuading people to do something …

… and on to negotiating the best way forward in a partnership process.

Away from technical experts in “outside” agencies dominating and guiding the process …

… and on to the people most affected by the issues of concern playing a central role.

• Sustainable
• Credible
• Powerful
• Able to evaluate
• Partners with development experts

• How can learning be developed/transferred?
• How do communities learn best?
• Form vs. Content
• Regional training centers based on local realities

• Using information technology to best advantage
• Costs and effectiveness
• Can donors begin to fund innovation in communications research
• Why aren't communications projects that advance the field widely supported?

• Skills/Sharing Learning -- What do you read? Who do you reach and how? What's in the package?
• How do you reach people who don't even think of themselves as communicators?
• No one size fits all mechanism
• Changing mindsets as important as teaching
• Changing institutional cultures

Focus Areas:

• Testing
• Mapping
• Supporting
• Spreading the knowledge

Next Steps...

What does getting involved mean?

• Practicing
• Funding
• Analyzing and evaluation
• Promoting
• Evangelizing
• Maintaining the network
• Identifying other case studies
• Refining and defining