PAPER The Drum Beat - 21 - COLOMBIA - Fundacion Social
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| The Drum Beat - 21 - COLOMBIA - Fundacion Social Additional Information and Commentary By Adelaida Trujillo-Caicedo Citurna Producciones en Cine y Video Bogotá, May of 1999 adelaidatrujillo@cable.net.co 4. Colombia: Programmes - Fundacion Social Fundación Social is the largest and oldest private foundation in Colombia. It has been linked to state and government development policies and political strategies for many years and it is one of Colombia's most influential civil society groups. It is worth noting that the Foundation's work can be portrayed from many angles and through the success of many of its social development programmes. One of those angles is its leadership understanding the critical role that communication plays in any social change process, its very creative and flexible communication thinking, and its focus on the need for generation of thought on development and change . Background: The Fundación Social is a private organization funded in 1911, by Father José Maria Campoamor S.J., with a group of Workers' Associations, and the support of other sectors of Bogotá's society. From the beginning, the fundamental social objective was to aid social, moral and economic improvement of the working classes. Three elements constitute its identity as an organisation:
It is a non-profit foundation which has its own equity capital and operates as the governing body of a corporate group, three foundations and a series of programs designed for comprehensive community development. Its companies work in a number of markets and combine economic efficiency with a firm social orientation expressed in two ways: by using all profits to finance community development programmes for low income sectors by producing goods and services to supply pertinent social needs in their area of expertise. The foundations contribute to the socio-economic development of specific sectors and the programmes are developed nationally through direct social intervention for the benefit of the poorest members of society. To develop its model for social intervention, the Foundation combines these two executive tools - its companies and its social programmes - for community development. These are used with the firm intention of exerting influence on society and as part of a permanent mission to generate thought. Communication strategies are included in its Social Programmes, which are the mechanisms for work in organized communities. The specific communication mission is to "help the poor develop their potential and become involved with initiative, decision-making capacity and control, in marketing chains and in the political , cultural , social and economic dynamics of their communities, regions and the country....". The Social Programmes try to articulate projects with regional and even national development plans, and should be negotiated and agreed on with public and private agencies involved in local, regional and /or national development . These are supported by the conviction that development is everyone's responsability and people must work together." Changing Approach to Communication for Social Change The Fundación Social has several vice-presidencies, one of which is in charge of development (Vicepresidencia de Desarrollo) with communications as one of its basic subdivisions. 1998 has been a transition year for their communication interventions. The Fundación worked for many years on a sectoral model of development and focused on poor and marginalised areas and the following populations:
So the new approach to the Social Programmes , accompanied by their specific communication interventions, is based on the fact that the Fundación questioned the effectiveness of their role at the national, sectoral level. After rigorous internal evaluation, analysis of the future 'scenarios' in the country, as well as tapping on the working conditions allowed by the Constitution of 1991, the Fundación now focuses all its attention to what is called "construction of Integrated Local Development" (construccción de Desarrollo Integral Local -DIL). What is interesting about this new phase is that it has implied a new way of constructing communication processes, best practice and communication thought. The DIL approach is based on three premises : local, integral, and specifically developed within a place and time framework. This marked territory allows for planning with clear conceptual phases, without leaving aside the fact that development is not possible without looking permanently at the broader context. The Fundación's work today is not seen as a sum of 'small or local' developments , but rather as a "way of seeing" development ( "una mirada del desarrollo"). Their work is based on the understanding that communication is a strategy for any change-making process and that is why the Fundación Social considers that their communicators are "workers for change" (trabajadores del cambio). What they target for in this new comunication approach is the possibility of empowering communities to participate in the city's development planning. This is possible thanks to the experiences and results of their work at the local level. To achieve this, the main lines of work are: 1. Participative development management (Gestión Participativa del Desarrollo): communication and concertation / consensus are the main elements for this. The definition of Communication used in this context is: circulation of information, public opinion and social control of the public domain ( control social de lo público), and that the debate of the community's interests needs to be public. Concertation / consensus is defined here as alliances with all the social actors of the city. The concept used in the work is that of 'Collective Pacts for the Future" 2. Education for community formation ( 'trabajo pedagógico en formación de la comunidad') Communication is also cross-cutting here . The main goals are to work the concepts of: solidarity, competivity, governability, and sustainability. Interpersonal dialogue and workshops with leaders and the local decision makers are the tools most frequently used. 3. Communication within the community: creative communication strategies come together here with the understanding that the use of games, the reconstruction of local history and stories, as well as the general concept of "lúdico" - the artistic, expressive, the playful - is crucial in the construction of cultural identity, and of individual and community self esteem. Carnivals, bazaars, concerts, street theater, participative drama, sports events and other community activities that trigger creativity are the main tools. Communication is seen here as "...construction of the "imaginario" production and 'flow' of sensitivities, senses and symbols... also as circuits of 'imaginarios' (imaginario: symbollic space where culture is constructed / construction of culture as it is lived, imagined and sensed) Where is Fundación Social working the DIL strategies? The DIL team consists of 200 'workers for change', working in marginal communities in seven cities: Cali, Medellín, Neiva, Ibagué, Cartagena and Barranquilla. Bogotá's project has just recently been estalished. These are seen as 'laboratories for change', where the development model is being constructed with the communities, as well as the communication intervention, which is particular to each context. The Fundación calls this process "cultural design" (diseño cultural) It is worth noting that the DIL's have proved very effective in the six cities mentioned above: the Fundación Social representative and the leaders of the communities where they work locally are active members , either presidents or directors, of the local development plan (Plan de Desarrollo Local). This means that they are literally sitting in the Mayor's office and participating, with voice and vote, along with all the governmental institutions, on how and where to spend the city's budget . To the Fundación this is the most satisfactory result as this summarizes the commitment of the community and the power of dialogue at all levels. It is worth noting that all projects work at some stage at the mass media level - especially through TV and radio, simultaneous to very focused community work. The Cali Local Development Plan, for example, has been a very interesting experience. The locality (group of 'barrios') is Petecuy, and the general objective of this community's participation in the city planning has a very strong component of involving youth issues identified by leaders of this marginal area. In order to reinforce the youth element both at the community level ,as well as with the decision makers, there have been several communication mechanisms used in combination with the ones mentioned above: 'Cali Ve Joven' is a strategy which is centered on a documentary television series on youth in Cali, in alliance with the local public service television station and Procívica, a broadcaster. This mass media component is creatively combined with football matches and rock concerts, where the concept of 'conviviality' is raised permanently through contests and games that are organised within these very popular events. Cali Ve Joven is repeated in the barrios through closed circuit community television, community radio stations covering the side events and the local press' support. Mass media tools like merchandising is another element which proved very succesful. Medellín's local development plan also has a youth component and a great emphasis on conviviality. The communities where the Fundación is present are very high risk populations, with a strong tradition of violence due to drugs' barons local influence and most recently guerrilla 'militias' ( urban support 'nodes' for the rural insurgent groups). [Note: Medellin has reached rates of homicide that average 40 people, mostly youth, killed during a weekend.] The underlying element in the development plan is to struggle against the stereotype of Medellín's youth as common delinquents and outcasts, which is an image present at both local and national level. So to tackle this, the local development plan's tools are combined with 'Muchachos a lo Bien', a television series based in conflict resolution values and the role of the youth in Medellín's development. It is co-produced with the support of the regional channel - Teleantioquia. The series is accompanied by guides and workshops, and at the local level in the barrios with a network of bulletin-boards/murals, a centre of information for youth, as well as local communication groups which are directed by youth leaders accompanied by the Fundación. Access to a national broadcast is possible thanks to CENPRO TELEVISION, which is a commercial television company owned by the Fundación Social. It is worth noting that CENPRO is a self-sustained commercial television operation which has pioneered in programming for large audiences with social content, conveying the idea of conviviality and solidarity in all its scripts, as well as understanding the importance youth culture. Planning Methodologies? When asked on the planing methodologies for communication strategies for change, Dario Angel, head of communication, stated: "....we don't pretend to create a model as we feel these tend to be slightly rigid. What we would like to do is create a "way of seeing" that has the ability of respecting the individuality of the communities, as well as being replicable. We are not interested in designing from the centre: we think, design , produce and validate at the local level.....It is true though that we are constructing as we work... I tend to feel sometimes as if we are designing a plane with people flying inside it What I mean to say is that we are aware of the enormous responsibility of this new approach. It is thinking about change, through the specific actions and with the people..." It is worth clarifying that the Fundación Social's has many other projects using communication, and we have only mentioned a few which are linked to the DIL programme. Amongst them:
Contacts: 1. Dario Angel Fundación Social Carrera 16A# 78-11 Piso 7o. Bogotá, Colombia Tels: (57-1) 635 8442 / 635 8415 / 635 8430 Director of Communications |