The Drum Beat 842: Warren Feek in His Own Words

• 1.Annan and a Talking Stick
  "...In the First Nations Bands of the islands off the west coast of Western Canada, the Talking Stick is a crucial element for communication and decision-making. In essence, an artist and local Band member explained, if you hold the talking stick in any community meeting then you can talk for as long as you like about whatever you like and in any way you want.....When you feel you are finished you hand it on to the next in line. The process continues with these very striking sticks [one that I saw was carved with intertwined eagle, raven, bear, salmon and thunderbird] being passed from hand-to-hand and all having the right to speak uninterrupted. No time management here. This is an ongoing dialogue process....[But i]t almost seems like there is little time or patience...for the dialogue-based, people-most-affected-and-engaged, take-as-much-time-as-you-need-to-figure-it-out, communication forms that are central to many cultures.....And even when traditional communication forms are adopted, such as local drama and music, they are recognised as mainly having value for embedding messages and effectively carrying those messages rather than placing the relevant priority development issues - as issues and concerns rather than as well tailored messages - into those communication forms....Why, if you found it important for your organisation's mandate and interests to work with the First Nations people of the West Coast of Canada, would you want to superimpose a different set of communication values and structures upon that culture?....Why have such processes as message development, focus groups, communication delivery mechanisms and target groups when there are such vibrant and strong cultural communication processes?....Perhaps these questions are just the irrelevant musing of an incurable romantic on communication....Or maybe not? What do you think? What are the insights from your work and experience?" [May 2003] 
   

• 2.New Year on the Ballot
  "A very happy Gregorian calendar New Year to all from The Communication Initiative (The CI) team! Huge thanks for engaging with The CI....Our field of work has more names (and the core principles and strategic directions they communicate) than a con(fused) person: behavio(u)r this, social that, communication for whatever, media whatsits name, participative whoseupnext ... etc. It can get really confusing. (Personally, I have been involved in a lot of these name and direction debates, pushing certain approaches - go "social change"!) Despite the naming and strategic challenges, The CI as an organisation covers everything you all do and think in a common, fair, and impartial manner. When you strip it all down, are there a couple of core principles that underpin and drive the work we all undertake, no matter what it is called? Might those principles provide a way forward to engage with the 2024 elections bonanza?....[P]erhaps [a] dual "accurate information" and "positive engagement" perspective provides both the safe entry point and the solid foundation for engaging with these pivotal elections..." [Jan 2024] 
   
• 3.Words to hear (and use) less - Happy 2020
  "...My wish this year relates to the words that I would really like to hear (and use) much less in 2020 when compared to how often I heard them (and used them!) in 2019 and before. Which words do you want to hear less frequently in the Development context, and why?....My nominations for words to HEAR LESS - please! "TARGET"...Alternative: Engage...."MESSAGE"...Alternative: Listen...."SOCIAL and BEHAVIOUR CHANGE"...Alternative: Social change and behaviour change (Note to self - change wording on The CI platform! - Ouch!)...."PILOT"...Alternative: At the scale required...."WHAT"...Alternative: Why and how...."MEDIA DEVELOPMENT"...Alternatives: News media development, entertainment media development, social media development, journalist-driven media development, community media development, and other specific terms..."AUDIENCE"...Alternative: People to engage...."EVIDENCE BASED" or "RESULTS DRIVEN"...Alternative: Valuable...."SUSTAINABLE"...Alternative: Works...."ORGANISATIONAL REVIEW"...Alternative: We only do full organisational reviews every 5 years so we can make a decision on your ideas/proposals...."I AM SORRY WE HAVE NO MONEY" - aaaarrrggghhhh! Alternative: YES! (Ha – maybe not but this is the time of year for optimism!)..." [Jan 2020] 
   

• 4.SOCIAL SHAKES - rethinking the core principles for principled and effective development action
  "We are all familiar with the tremors linked to earthquakes. Pressure builds. Plates move. They slide against each other. The earth shakes. Bits of the terrain change. This process continues. The fault lines continue to produce change. The world also experiences social shakes. People, communities, groups and organisations become active and organised on the issues and conditions about which they have passion and interest. Others, from their perspectives and interests, resist the change being promulgated. Pressure builds through engagement, debate, dialogue, organisation, conversation, argument, information being developed, decisions made, positions taken and media engaged. For better or worse, depending on your perspective and interest(s), things are shaken up a little....Most of these social changes have communication as a central and crucial strategic element of the progress obtained. In many cases, that is all there was - just communication. So, from a communication perspective, what can we learn from these social shakes for effective communication on the priority local, national and international Development priorities?..." [Nov 2018] 
   
• 5.Same or Different? Social Change and Behaviour Change - The Drum Beat 836
  "Good fields of work, effective fields of work, related to any human endeavour that is being pursued, from aeronautics to zoology, check themselves. Are we doing the best thing? Does the research back up our strategies? Are the fundamentals of our work correct? Does what we are doing mesh with overall, decent human values and principles? And much more. The same of course applies to our shared field of work....There has been a recent trend in this field of work to truncate social change and behaviour change into just one thing: SBC! In the spirit of checking ourselves, is that a good way to go? Are they so similar that they can be combined to one? Does the research reinforce that? Do both elements - social and behaviour - share common principles? Across and between the social and the behavioural, are the planning and action strategies the same - or different?..." [May 2024] 
   
• 6.Solutions at the Individual-Level Have Led Policy Astray
  "In their journal paper 'The I-Frame and the S-Frame: How Focusing on the Individual-Level Solutions Has Led Behavioral Public Policy Astray'..., two previously self-described members of the behavioural science academic community change their view....As the way forward, the authors throw their weight behind an s-frame approach - 'a focus on the system of rules, norms and institutions by which we live'; 'the system in which they (people) operate'. From my understanding, this leads to a social change strategy - people discussing, networking, organising, giving voice to their perspectives and negotiating to effectively address the structural issues they prioritise for the outcomes they want, including policy changes and resource allocations/investments. What do you think? Please take a look at that paper and share your perspective, arguments and data..." [Jul 2022] 
   
• 7.Local Fingers in the Global Wind - The Drum Beat 835
  "...Trying to detect trends in local, national, and international development can be like dunking your middle finger in a glass of water, holding that finger up to the wind, and feeling the on-rushing air hit that upraised, round digit at every one of its 360 degrees at the same time. Not helpful for finding your direction. In fact (excuse the Kiwi), absolutely bloody useless!....So, when you see a set of coherent development principles you really like from a large and influential development agency with big money attached, it is natural to ask if it is a passing trend or the beginning of something that will really stick. Can you wet your finger, hold it to the wind, and over time still feel the same direction of the energy that has been generated?....I really hope that the recent USAID [United States Agency for International Development] policy and operational principle of localisation sticks like the toughest super glue all over the full range of local, national, and global development organisations, policies, resourcing/funding, and decision-making processes, and how local and issue-specific organisations that are making a difference are engaged and worked with..." [May 2024] 
   
• 8.2022 SBCC Summit: Personal Impressions - The Drum Beat 818
  In this edition, Warren shared a few very personal, initial, and immediate impressions of the 2022 Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Summit, held in Marrakech, Morocco, December 5-9 2022. Here is one example: "All communities and fields of work need a common identifying point. But now, based on presentations in Marrakech, it seems the SBCC field of work is seeking to implement (across all possible understandings of behaviours and social processes and all Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs) strategies that range from behavioural economics to AI and from school curricula to gamification. Are we somehow losing the core connective tissue that used to unite this field - communication? Or will this broadening serve to make us more dynamic and relevant?..." [Dec 2022] 
   
• 9.The Power of Movement
  This issue of The Drum Beat is part of a series of short strategic thinking essays on the most effective approach for development communication by Warren Feek. In a previous essay - Science Envy - Warren argued that the predominant, primary international development strategy of SI = T x I x F - where - SI = Sustainable Impact; T = Technical Assistance; I = a specific intervention; and, F = Funding was [a] not working and [b] did not reflect the qualities required for effective and sustainable change. [Nov 2003] 
   

• 10.Empowering People and Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality: An Evidence-based Strategy and Investment Paper for Consideration by the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2019
  "Every day, for generation after generation, women in one particular village walked down the hill to the river, filled vessels with fresh water, and carried them up the hill to serve their families and communities throughout the coming day. A large, major development organisation installed pumps, pipes, and taps in order to alleviate the burden of this exhausting and demanding activity. The women were disgruntled, complained, and worked against this development technology intervention. Why? The answer to that question highlights a major challenge for the...SDGs...and the vital importance of social change, behaviour change, informed and engaged societies strategies and action....Compelling impact data that results from empowerment, inclusiveness and equality focused action driven by social change, behaviour change, informed and engaged societies strategies is included below..." [Jul 2019] 
   
• 11.Positive Ups and Downs: Impact Research - The Drum Beat 801
  [written by Kier Olsen DeVries and Warren Feek] 
• Data on the impacts of our work are essential. Such data are the basis for: ensuring our accountability to the people, communities, and countries with which we work; learning what works so as to increase the effectiveness of our work; and making the policy and funding case for action towards more informed and engaged societies. [Jul 2021] 
   

• 12.Combating Misinformation and Rumours
  "Across the full spectrum of Development issues, and the full range of communication, public engagement and media strategies, ill-founded rumours and misinformation are a major problem. Using COVID-19 as a very current example: How can we best respond? Which strategies could be adopted? Drawing from knowledge shared across The CI platform, please critique and comment on the learning, analysis and proposed strategies that follow....A. Go to people - do not expect them to come to you....B. Combine scientific evidence with storytelling, especially through the voices of people directly affected....C. Identify and name the rumour and misinformation "source" and motivation....D. Undertake two-way communication that responds to the public's concerns as a conversation....E. (This should go without saying but) Get your own facts straight!....F. Pay attention to lessons learned from past health crises..." [Jun 2020] 
   
• 13.Breaking through the clout of COVID-19 dominated public and media discourse
  "...COVID-19 poses some hugely difficult communication challenges for the communication strategies focused on other development issues. The power and influence of COVID-19 can not be ignored. But it does provide some opportunities. National priority making; local, national and global reviews; data gap identification gathering, and analysis; networks; and the role of and relationships with local decision-makers provide major opportunities to strengthen communication action on specific pre-COVID development priorities, and on COVID-19 itself." [May 2020] 
   
• 14.THE REAL STUFF! Towards more principled and effective HIV/AIDS policy and investment action
  "...No major global issue that is rooted in significant cultural, social norm and economic circumstances, as is the case with HIV/AIDS, has ever been resolved without the voices of the people most affected being the most prominent in describing the issues and defining the acceptable response. Policy Suggestions: Support genuine national and community consultations - sadly many such processes at present have the look and feel of thinly disguised selling of programmes and ideas rather than listening, learning and supporting; Support moving people living with/directly affected by HIV/AIDS from the margins of policy making and investment/financial decisions to be central, 'loud' and influential..." [Jul 2008] 
   

• 15.WITH PEOPLE: Communication, Community Engagement, COVID-19, and Preparing for Future Pandemics
  Many thousands of COVID-19-focused communication and community engagement strategies have been implemented across all countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the hope of spotlighting these efforts and advocating for the centralisation of such approaches within the overall pandemic response, on March 21 2021, a group of 24 experts in the field of communication for social change and behaviour change [with Warren as convenor] participated online in the COVID-19 Independent Panel Roundtable on Communication and Community Engagement. They made the point that, when people - in all their diversity - are successfully recognised as central to pandemic response and empowered to act accordingly, they can have an impact. The paper offers just a few examples of credible, at-scale, development issue change research data from communication and community engagement strategies that have worked in various contexts. [Mar 2021] 
   
• 16.Introduction - Natural Social Spaces: How Do We Research Social Media and Development Trends, Dynamics, and Impact? Learning from a Polio and Routine Immunization and Social Media Research Initiative in Ukraine
  by Anna Postovoitova, Warren Feek, Kier Olsen DeVries, and Chris Morry 
• "This dynamic of low immunization rates and high online engagement provided the opportunity to look at the role of social media in a country that needed to address the only polio cases in Europe and widespread outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases. To undertake an effective response, Ukraine had to handle an almost pervasive collection of rumors, false information, and medical processes that were not rooted in known medical efficacy. These messages were prevalent on online platforms throughout Ukraine....Within that context, as with all health and development issues, the most important initial research priority is to understand what is happening, and why....The purpose of this paper is to outline the methodology for that work in case it is a helpful input into the design of other online and social media research focused on development." [Sep 2019] 
   
• 17.Background - Word of Mouth: Learning from Polio Communication and Community Engagement Initiatives
  [written by Warren and The CI team, as part of a project for the Maternal and Child Survival Program]
• "...Unless the polio program had a really solid communication and community engagement strategy as a central element of its work, it could not have effectively engaged families, accessed communities, overcome both valid and invalid perceptions and understandings, addressed relevant social norms, supported local leadership, and brokered important relationships....The learning outlined below is not presented as a directive on how to program communication and community engagement, based on what polio has learned in its journey. Rather this knowledge is shared in the spirit of supportive strategic insights and information - to be accessed and considered at the discretion of people engaged across the full range of development issues and concerns. The hope is that the reader will discover and take away what is relevant and useful in his or her own work..." [Jul 2018] 
   
• 18.Development Calling - Introduction, Purpose, Stimulus, Consultation (draft)
  by Rafael Obregon and Warren Feek 
• "This paper is the core document for the communication, media, social and behavior change all parties meeting on June 27th and 28th [2017] in New York, hosted by UNICEF [the United Nations Children's Fund]. It presents the rationale, purpose, consultation process, worries, priorities, analysis, and mechanism options to be considered by that meeting as it makes decisions about the best global mechanism to help advance the scale and effectiveness of the work of this important Development community....[I]t is an attempt to reflect the views, concerns, and recommendations derived from multiple discussions with and contributions by partners across the world..." [May 2017] 
   

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