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Putting People First: Participatory Development Communication and Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management

Guy Bessette

In: Handbook of Communication and Development

Srinivas R. Melkote; Arvind Singhal (eds.)

Cheltenham; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing (2021), pp. 233-244

"Most effective agriculture, environment and natural resource management projects tend to be those in which community members, development practitioners or agriculture experts jointly identify research or development parameters and participate in the decision-making process. In these projects, commu ... more

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Handbook of Communication and Development

Srinivas R. Melkote, Arvind Singhal (eds.)

Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing (2021), xvii, 397 pp.

"This incisive Handbook critically examines the role and place of media and communication in development and social change, reflecting a vision for change anchored in values of social justice. Outlining the genealogy and history of the field, it then investigates the possible new directions and obje ... more

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Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change
Top Insights

Jan Servaes (ed.)

Singapore: Springer (2020), 2 vols.

"The book contains 85 chapters written by persons who have been on those frontlines of communication and development [...] A variety of case studies appear in the book. For example, Kriss Barker and Fatou Jah – in a chapter titled “Entertainment-Education in Radio: Three Case Studies from Africa ... ” – explore in detail projects in Nigeria, Burundi and Burkina Faso that used a communication intervention approach advanced by the Population Media Center. Other chapters in the Handbook take the reader to Spain, Kenya, South Africa, Kazakhstan, and beyond. Song Shi examines “ICTs and Modernization in China,” revealing that assumptions and theories of the modernization paradigm have significantly influenced the policies and projects on ICT4D in contemporary China. And, Song Shi writes, discussion on the potential of other approaches in ICT4D in China has also emerged among scholars. Hina Ayaz discusses the “Multiplicity Approach in Participatory Communication” in Pakistan – wherein the country adopted the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – only to run into negative perceptions and banning of polio vaccinations. However, a shift to a more successful approach, grounded in UNICEF’s social mobilization and communityinvolvement communication strategy, brought significant success. While many of the Handbook case studies incorporate participation as a significant development factor, they also address a wide range of social and political issues including, for example, civic engagement, sexual harassment, empowerment, and community voices. In addition to an abundance of case studies from around the world, the Handbook delves into various research methods that are being used to understand and design communication for development and social change interventions [...] Handbook editor Jan Servaes' own chapter (with Rico Lie), “Key Concepts, Disciplines, and Fields in Communication for Development and Social Change ” identifies five clusters of concepts and practices that are evident in the field today and which determine the activities and approaches in communication for sustainable development and social change interventions: The clusters are (1) a normative cluster of concepts; (2) a cluster of concepts that sets an important context for communication activities for development; (3) a cluster of strategic and methodological concepts; (4) a cluster of concepts that relate to methods, techniques, and tools; and (5) a cluster of concepts that addresses the practices of advocacy, (participatory) monitoring and evaluation, and impact assessment. The authors extend their discussion into three subdivisions: (1) health communication, (2) agricultural extension and rural communication, and (3) environmental communication (including climate change communication). This leads the reader into issues related to (1) right to communicate; (2) education and learning; (3) innovation, science, and technology; (4) natural resource management; (5) food security; (6) poverty reduction; (7) peace and conflict; (8) children and youth, women, and senior citizens; and (9) tourism. Some of the forerunners of development communication have not been forgotten. In “Daniel Lerner and the Origins of Development Communication”, Hemant Shah links Lerner’s 1958 book Passing of Traditional Society to today’s modernization and faith in technology to solve social problems. Also contributing to the foundation of this field is Paulo Freire who contributed much to idea that participation should be a vital part of the development dialogue. Ana Fernández-Aballí Altamirano’s chapter on "The Importance of Paulo Freire to Communication for Development and Social Change" highlights his main work Pedagogy of the Oppressed as a "before-and-after" in the fields of education, research, and communication, initially in Latin America and later in both North and South. Particularly in the case of development communication and communication for social change, the author stresses, Freire’s work had a definitive impact ..." (Review by Royal Donald Colle, Journal of Development Communication, vol. 30 (2), page 92-94) more

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Communication and Sustainable Development: Selected Papers from the 9th UN Roundtable on Communication for Development

Rome: FAO (2007), vi, 125 pp.

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People, Land and Water: Participatory Development Communication for Natural Resource Management
Inspiring Practice

Guy Bessette (ed.)

London; Ottawa: Earthscan;International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (2006), 313 pp.

"This book presents conceptual and methodological issues related to the use of communication in order to facilitate participation among stakeholders in natural resource management (NRM) initiatives. It also presents a collection of chapters that focus on participatory development communication and N ... RM, particularly in Asia and Africa. There are many approaches and practices in development communication, and most of them have been implemented in the field of environment and natural resource management. But, even when considering participatory approaches in NRM, communication is often limited to information dissemination activities that mainly use printed materials, radio programmes and educational videos to send messages, explain technologies or illustrate activities. These approaches, with their strengths and weaknesses, have been well documented. Participatory development communication takes another perspective. This form of communication facilitates participation in a development initiative identified and selected by a community, with or without the external assistance of other stakeholders. The terminology has been used in the past by a number of scholars to stress the participatory approach of communication in contrast with its more traditional diffusion approach. Others refer to similar approaches as participatory communication for development, participatory communication or communication for social change. In this publication, participatory development communication is considered to be a planned activity that is based on participatory processes and on media and interpersonal communication. This communication facilitates dialogue among different stakeholders around a common development problem or goal. The objective is to develop and implement a set of activities that contribute to a solution to the problem or the realization of a goal, and which support and accompany this initiative. This kind of communication requires moving from a focus on information and persuasion to facilitating exchanges between different stakeholders to address a common problem, to develop a concrete initiative for experimenting with possible solutions, and to identify the partnerships, knowledge and materials needed to support these solutions." (Preface) more

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Involving the Community: A Guide to Participatory Development Communication

Guy Bessette

Ottawa; Penang: International Development Research Centre (IDRC);Southbound (2004), viii, 154 pp.

"This guide is intended for people working in research and development. It introduces participatory development communication concepts, discusses the effective two-way communication approaches, and presents a methodology to plan, develop, and evaluate communication strategies to address the followin ... more

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L'appui au développement communautaire: Une expérience de communication en Afrique de l'Ouest

Lucie Alexandre, Guy Bessette (eds.)

Ottawa; Paris: Centre de Recherches pour le Développement International;Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie (2000), 215 pp.

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Participatory Development Communication: A West African Agenda

Guy Bessette, C. V. Rajasunderam (eds.)

Ottawa; Penang: International Development Research Centre (IDRC);Southbound (1996), 154 pp.

Putting People First: Participatory Development Communication and Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management

Handbook of Communication and Development

Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change Top Insights

Communication and Sustainable Development: Selected Papers from the 9th UN Roundtable on Communication for Development

People, Land and Water: Participatory Development Communication for Natural Resource Management Inspiring Practice

Involving the Community: A Guide to Participatory Development Communication

L'appui au développement communautaire: Une expérience de communication en Afrique de l'Ouest

Participatory Development Communication: A West African Agenda

Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change
Top Insights

People, Land and Water: Participatory Development Communication for Natural Resource Management
Inspiring Practice