Participatory Learning and Action 39:
PLA Notes 39: Participatory CommunicationIIED, October 2000. 80 pp.
Price: US$25.00
Guest Editors: Joanna Howard and Patta Scott-Villiers
Ordering Information
Summary
The special theme section of this issue of PLA Notes examines how popular communications can be used to engage with local people and bring the views of those who are generally excluded to a broader arena for sharing and exchange. It illustrates how popular media can act as a powerful mechanism to ring policy makers and local people together and shows the potential of certain popular communications techniques (e.g. participatory video, theatre for development etc.) for community empowerment.The issue also contains five general issues on PLA approaches and experiences.
Editorial
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1. 'Sharing the last drop'. Household water security and equity in small coastal watersheds
Gregory C. Ira
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Abstract
There is a water crisis in Southeast Asia, one of the wettest regions of Asia, if not the world. This is because of the systematic degradation of water sources by growing numbers of increasingly water-hungry people. In order to gain a better understanding of the local implications of household water security and equity in areas considered water-rich by national/international water indices, the Water Equity in the Lifescape and Landscape Study (WELLS) was developed. The cornerstone of the project was the development of a simple, participatory tool to assess water security and equity in rural coastal watersheds at the household level, known as the Household Water Security Mapping Tool (HWSMT).
2. Keys to unleash mapping's good magic
Janis B. Alcorn
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Abstract
Over the past decade, the author has watched and supported mapping practitioners' progress in different situations around the world. Whenever they come together, they excitedly exchange ideas and share their problems. In this article, practical insights are shared in the hope that these will be valuable for isolated practitioners who want to try mappng but would like to learn from others' experiences.
3. A participatory GIS for community forestry user groups in Nepal
Gavin Jordan and Bhuban Shrestha
Abstract
There is an increasing interest in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a participatory context, with this development either causing alarm or being seen as providing a potentially valuable tool. This article explores some of the benefits and concerns of using GIS as a participatory tool, using a case study in community forest management in Nepal, with the aim of assessing the applicability and relevance of a Participatory GIS in this context.
4. Adding the fourth dimension to participatory 3-D modelling
Giacomo Rambaldi,Marlynn Mendoza and Fernando Ramirez
Abstract
Participatory 3-D Modelling (P3-DM) is a tool which merges Geographic Information System (GIS)-generated data and peoples' knowledge to produce a stand-alone relief model. The model provides stakeholders with an efficient, user-friendly and relatively accurate spatial research, planning and management tool, the information from which can be extracted and further elaborated by the GIS. Regular updating of the model allows for monitoring change and for integrating the fourth dimension, time, into the system.
5. Sustaining participation: what are the challenges? A review of the Uganda Participatory Development Network (UPDNet) annual meeting 24th-25th August 2000
Peter Ejautene Okiira
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Abstract
The Uganda Participatory Development Network (UPDNet), a loose network of organisations, institutions and individuals who are interested in promoting the use of participatory development techniques in Uganda, held a two-day workshop on the theme 'Sustaining Participation: what are the challenges?' in August 2000. The workshop brought together about 100 participants who discussed the issues and challenges of sustaining a participatory process.
SPECIAL ISSUE:
Popular communications
6. 'They are shouting it whenever they can'.
Beyond invited participation: the power of popular communications
Joanna Howard, and Patta Scott-Villiers
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Abstract
In May 2000 a workshop was held at the Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK on using popular communications for processes of democratic transformation. Around 60 people from all round the world attended, bringing with them different and challenging experiences and opinions on using theatre, radio, video, music, plastic arts and other creative media in processes of social and political change. This article gives an overview of the workshop, and introduces the collection of articles which follow in this Special Issue of PLA Notes.
7. The 'inky and talking people' of the Pacific Coast of Colombia
Luis Jaime and Ariza Tello
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Abstract
This article describes a literacy project carried out on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Known as 'Continued Adult Education', or popularly as 'The Inky People of the Pacific Coast', the project was designed to take up where two previous, government literacy campaigns had left off. These had failed largely because the reading material provided by the government talked about things that had nothing to do with the daily concerns of the people. The 'Inky People' project was based on working with adults in the communities to create printed stories of their lives and the history of their village.
8. A story to tell: 'Hili li mama...' meaning 'This mama...'
Masaiganah Mwajumah
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Abstract
The author narrates her experiences, working as a facilitator with the fisherfolk communities of Mtwara and Lindi regions of Tanzania. In December 1996 she facilitated a five-day evaluation workshop with a group of fishermen in Sudi, Lindi District, as part of the Rural Integrated Programme (RIPS) marine environment project. The first meeting in Sudi village led to the Sudi declaration which was made by fishermen and women from 12 coastal villages of Mtwara, Lindi and Kilwa districts, during which they agreed to form the Sudi Committee, to oversee the whole issue of marine environment protection in the area and raise awareness amongst the people in the area and at regional and national levels. This was done through mass meetings and leaders' (villagers') meetings, but using video as a medium of communication.
9. Radio Ijambo and the petrol price rise
Aloys Niyoyita
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Abstract
Studio Ijambo was set up two years after large scale massacres broke out between the two main ethnic groups in Burundi, in an attempt to show people that there is an alternative to violence and that compromise can be reached through dialogue. This article focuses on a radio programme made in April 2000. After two months' speculation on oil prices by local businessmen, the government decided to raise the petrol price, for the second time in two months, from 470 Burundi Francs to 570 Burundi Francs. The story of how different people felt about this is recorded through street interviews and studio discussions and presented in radio programme format.
Naomi Alexander
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Abstract
Brighton and Hove Rocks was a project undertaken by the Scarman Trust in the cities of Brighton and Hove in the UK. It was a way for local people to be involved in setting priorities for government-provided health services. Poor people in Britain are not usually consulted on their preferences with regard to services, or if they are, their opinions are often ignored.
11. Using video for urban poor solutions in Phnom Penh
Maurice Leonhardt
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Abstract
The Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) has been instrumental in establishing a Federation of savings groups in Phnom Penh since 1993. These groups are now operating in over 200 poor communities in Phnom Penh. During December 1999 and January 2000 the largest slum community was facing eviction threats from government under pressure to redevelop the land. In collaboration with local grassroots groups, ACHR gathered information to negotiate either to remain on the site or to participate in a negotiated and acceptable resettlement plan. In order to influence government, ACHR produced a short video of the work they were doing involving partnerships with government organisations and slum communities.
12. Pre-election voters' awareness campaign in Rajasthan - a journey
Ajaya Kumar Mohapatra
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Abstract
The Participatory Research Institute of Asia (PRIA) is an international centre for learning and promotion of participation and democratic governance, based in New Delhi, India. For nearly two decades, PRIA has been promoting people-centred development initiatives within the perspective of participatory research. In 1999, PRIA embarked on a programme to increase citizen participation in governance through a pre-election voters awareness campaign, using traditional forms of communication like puppet shows, folk theatre, song, dance, music, procession, and also video.
Anna Blackman interviewed by Joanna Howard
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Abstract
Photo Voice is a UK based non-profit organization that works on participatory documentary and photography projects around the world. It provides a platform from which people who do not normally have the chance to represent themselves to a wider audience can tell their stories. In an interview, Anna Blackman of Photo Voice, tells about the kinds of projects they are involved in, focusing particularly on a 'Street Vision', photography project for street children in Vietnam.
14. 'O teatro de rua dos meninos de rua'. The street children's street theatre
Barbara Santos
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Abstract
CTO RIO - The Centre for the Theatre of the Oppressed in Rio, Brazil, has existed since 1986, and its principal objective is the democratisation of the cultural media, through the formation and diffusion of popular drama groups that replicate the methodology of CTO throughout Brazil. Together with two partners, Geo Britto and Olivar Bendelak, the author managed to invite about 20 young people from the street to the centre to form a theatre group. They improvised and tried to show through drama what they thought about their lives.
Pairing of Provebs to find your partner
Ced Hesse and Pippa Trench
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