Communication
World Congress on Communication for Development, Italy, Rome, October 25-27, 2006
The first World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of communication in helping meet today’s most pressing development challenges.
Held over three days, the Congress brought together 500 policy makers, development practitioners, researchers and communication professionals to share a wealth of communication for development experience from around the world. It also led to recommendations, strategies and tools for incorporating - and advocating for - communication in development policy and practice. (See the WCCD website for more information.)
Sessions encouraged dialogue by using creative techniques to present information and share knowledge. Healthlink Worldwide participated at a number of WCCD sessions, including the following two.
Session 1: Counting every ripple at the 'World Cafe'
Healthlink Worldwide presented at one of a series of special events,
entitled Where do we drop the pebble?
“Have you ever noticed the buzz that spreads around a room or through a community when some exciting news is being discussed?” asks Healthlink Worldwide’s Director of Programmes, Andrew Chetley, who co-facilitated the session. “In this instance we are making the analogy that interactions are like the ripples of a pond when a pebble is dropped in. Where do you drop the pebble to stimulate the most ripples? That’s the question many organisations face when trying to identify how best to encourage effective development communication.”
The interactive session, which was held for 80 people, made use of a participatory technique called 'World Cafe' to help identify challenges to communication, stimulate innovative thinking, and explore the possibilities for action. Eleven group conversations (some in Spanish and some in English) were set-up which focused on challenging scenarios such as:
- Starting dialogues about HIV and AIDS in communities where few people publicly discuss topics relating to sexual health.
- Engaging people whose language and culture is not that of the dominant population groups in the country.
- Ensuring the concerns of women living in remote areas face in gaining access to health care are heard and dealt with by local and national policy planners
- Promoting research findings to policy makers and shaping planning and implementation.
“The session was designed to demonstrate how communication for development can be effective", says Liz Goold, who co-facilitated the session. “The World Cafe approach takes into account everyone's experiences and ideas - the wisdom and ideas of the room become a valuable resource to draw on."
She adds: "The concept shows how conversations and relationships develop into collective insight and how action emerges through the connection of ideas, and the awareness of deeper patterns around the issues being talked about."
The participants enjoyed the session and its participatory approach. Many agreed that the concept of Communication for Development was not always fully understood - even by those attending the Congress; there should be more focus on dialogue and listening rather than 'promoting' messages. But, when used in the right context the approach does allow those who were often overlooked in development to tell their stories.
Many different challenges were raised. As one participant contributed: "Effective communication is about partnerships, listening and sharing." Another queried: "How do we balance as communicators, the transference of knowledge with the needs of the community to [identify] their own priorities?"
Session 2: Are you being heard?
In a second session, which forms part of the congress’s health theme,
Healthlink Worldwide and the Communication for Social Change Consortium
coordinated a session on how those affected by ill health can be
heard and their voices acted on.
The
session was run as if it were a live radio talk show with the session
participants taking on the role of the studio audience; it even included
a phone-in opportunity as part of the proceedings.
“We decided to hold the session in this way because current debates on health have undergone a revolution in the last five years”, says Bernard Trude, Chief Executive, Healthlink Worldwide, one of the session's organisers. “Increased funding, successful advocacy by activists, and renewed political impetus such as G8 and the Millennium Development Goals have all contributed to renewed energy and fresh hope for positive action. The session aimed to demonstrate the role of communication and highlight how it hasn’t always been prioritised or well defined.
“By staging the session as a radio programme participants were able to answer questions such as ‘What do we mean by ‘voice’ in health communication?’, ‘What are some of its applications?’, and ‘What do those most affected consider the most appropriate role of communication for development?
"We all hold assumptions about what 'participation' means and we're hoping that the session delved a little deeper into the constraints, challenges and the realities of the this way of working."
Visit the conference website for more information
Read Nicholas Perkin's blog on the 'Are you being heard?' session