The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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FRAME: Natural Resource Management Network

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Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), FRAME is a communication-centred programme working to build knowledge sharing networks of natural resource management (NRM) professionals and to help NRM practitioners and decision makers make greater use of the existing body of knowledge on successful NRM experiences. The programme's main goals are to: foster discussion on emerging trends in environmental and NRM across disciplinary and geographical boundaries, and provide timely and relevant information on innovative and strategic options to address these issues. To reach these goals, the programme initiates NRM field studies, builds institutional partnerships, distributes a newsletter, and offers a knowledge sharing website for the global NRM community.
Communication Strategies

FRAME draws centrally on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to foster information and idea exchange among those interested in the use of NRM for development. At the heart of FRAME is an interactive website that is offered in either high or low (text-only) bandwidth. Available in English, French, and Spanish, all content - such as FRAMEgram, a monthly electronic newsletter with news and resources provided by and for the NRM community - is accessible to anyone. However, in addition to accessing the site's resources, those users who sign up to join the free network may post documents, personalise the way they use the website, and initiate and participate in discussions such as the FRAME forum series and the more informal discussions throughout the website.

Research and face-to-face information exchange are other key components of this project. For instance, "stocktaking" refers to FRAME-supported field assessments that demonstrate the importance of sound NRM for contributing to national strategies related to increasing economic growth, reducing poverty, and strengthening governance. FRAME's assessments not only identify sites where investments in NRM have made an impact in those areas, but also describe the NRM practices and systems in place and identify the "enabling conditions" (such as better communication of knowledge) that contributed to those local investments in NRM. These assessments are typically followed by a workshop to discuss the study findings among key stakeholders at the local and national levels.

Development Issues

Natural Resource Management

Sources

FRAME website; and email from Sarah Schmidt to The Communication Initiative on October 6 2008.

Comments

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 06:44 Permalink

Great resource and network of professionals in NRM. Posted questions and received helpful replies.