13 Participatory Communication Methods

Mrs. Bhavna Dave

Unit Structure:

12.0 Learning Outcomes

12.1  Introduction

12.2 Meaning of Participatory Communication

12.3 Phases of a Communication Programme

12.4 Key Aspects of Participatory Communication

12.5 Steps involved in Participatory Communication methodof development at the community level

12.6 Benefits of Participatory Communication Methods

12.7 Risks and Constraints of Participatory Communication Methods

12.8 Let us sum up

12.0 Learning Outcomes:

With the help of this unit, you will be able to:

• understand the meaning of participatory communication
• identify the phases of a communication programme
• explain the aspects of participatory communication
• analyze  the  steps  involved  in  participatory  communication method of development
• comprehend the benefits of participatory communication methods
• evaluate risks and constraints of participatory communication methods

12.1 Introduction:

In the 1950’s, Paulo Freire a Brazilian adult educator conducted an adult literacy campaign with poor peasants in North-Eastern Brazil. He introduced Participatory Communication which empowered landless peasants to articulate their own demands for a better life and to release themselves from repressive conditions. He emphasized on letting the stakeholders get involved in the development process to determine the outcome rather than imposing on them a pre-established outcome. It was because of his contribution that participatory communication became popular in theory and practice. Dialogical communication was significant rather than linear communication in participatory communication. Most recently participatory approaches to communication have reinforced the emphasis on structural and social change.

12.2 Meaning of Participatory Communication:

There are certain issues in every community. These issues impact the lives of the people living in it. Participatory communication is an approach which facilitates the people of the community to take decisions about such issues.

It enables them to address their own specific needs and priorities. In this process the people of the community are empowered.

People engage in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of change processes required in their community. For this, purposefully designed communication platforms and mechanisms are used and people’s participation is assured. Information and experiences are shared when people come together and at the same time they explore together and search new knowledge which in turn helps to improve situations in the community.

12.3 Phases of a Communication Programme:

Participatory communication is considered significant because a wide consensus is sought from all participants. Many skirmishes and obstacles can be prevented if addressed quickly. Genuine participation also increases the sense of ownership by local stakeholders thus enhancing sustainability.

Truly effective communication should occur among all parties affected, ensuring all have similar opportunities to influence the outcome of the initiative. Ideally, participatory communication should be part of the whole project process.

• Two-way communication should be adopted from the beginning and be applied consistently.
• Full participation by all stakeholders in any step of the process is not possible and, in some cases probably not desirable. Broad consensus may be sufficient.
• Inclusiveness must be balanced with consideration of stakeholders’ time, resources, interests and knowledge. After their input is taken into account, stakeholders may not need to be involved in detailed decisions beyond the scope of their interests.

The basic phases of a communication programme are:

1. Participatory Communication Assessment (PCA): There are issues in the community which are identified and the problems are analyzed by the NGO’s who undertake the project along with the people of that community. They interact with each other in openly and assess the situations.
2. Participatory Communication Strategy Design: The objectives are defined and various suitable strategies are discussed upon which would help to achieve the set objectives.
3. Implementation of Communication Activities: Relevant activities are planned and actual plans of implementation are made. This helps in managing and monitoring the strategies.
4. Monitoring and Evaluation: Evaluation should be planned from the beginning of an initiative. Furthermore, if participation means that stakeholders are partners in the decision-making process, they must also be partners in impact evaluation.

12.4 Key aspects of Participatory Communication:

•  A commitment to learning: Local People understand the conditions of the community best. Therefore their involvement in the development projects becomes beneficial. They are able to prioritize issues to be addressed; they are also able to analyze skills possessed by the people of the local community.They can guide the participants with respect to availability of resources and encourage maximum participation for bringing about sustainable change. Once the local people are engaged, they are committed to learning and become accountable for progress.
• Partnership moves beyond a benefactor-recipient relationship to a more equal sharing of skills, power and ideas.
• Empowerment: By activating institutions and deprived people in the process of empowerment, local people can gain greater control over their own futures and their own development agenda.

12.5Steps involved in Participatory Communication at the community level:

1 Identifying a community:

To begin aparticipatory communication project, an organization may select a community with which it has already worked earlier or is familiar with. They prefer to enter a known community because it is easier to seek participation and achieve the set objectives.

If the community is totally new, it takes a longer period to build rapport with the local people and make the most of their resources and capacities. If the organization already possesses a popular name and credibility, the community accepts it faster and develops a feeling of trust.

2 Preparing to Plan Action:

Once the NGO and the Community know each other, a decision to collaborate or not to collaborate is taken. The next step is often the planning of the collaboration. Communication plays an important role at this stage.

As many people as possible from the community are encouraged and provided with the opportunity to participate in the planning process. Meetings of the community are good starting points. The leaders of the enterprise will probably emerge at this stage. The person facilitating the process should ensure that leaders are eventually elected by a majority and interferences in the choice of the leaders reduced to a minimum.

After the elections are conducted, there is a possibility that contenders who have lost may decide to leave the group, taking with them their family, friends and supporters. How the group responds to their departure is important in setting the tone for future interactions between the group and the departing members.

3 Planning What to Do: A next step is to reflect upon the current conditions, problems, aspirations and resources of the community.

Traditional and folk media, techniques of dramatization, videos, photographs and presentation of research findings are various strategies to highlight the issues present in the communities without the fear of actually having to confront the real culprits involved in these issues.

4 Providing Support:

Once the issues have been identified and priorities are set, there is a need of action. Groups evolve within the community to run the activities of the community.

The groups may comprise of opinion leaders such as a religious leader, traditional birth attendant, teacher, folk musicians, actors, and others with flair and a love of communication and interaction with people. These groups may be offered training in communication methods. Such training should emphasize the principles of participation and the supportive role of communication in triggering participation.

To be congruent with the goals of participatory communication, all training should focus on communication as an instrument to empower the people rather than as a vehicle for moving information.

5  Rehearsing the process: Action should be taken in a series of steps, starting with the most urgent or most manageable, and then moving on to others after it has been completed. This way of iterating the process provides the community with the opportunity to learn and become familiar with the process. Duplication also facilitates increasing degrees of participation amongst members of the community as they learn to work with each other, and develop confidence and loyalty for each other.

6 Moving away from the Community: Once the people of the communitystart their work in full swing and are confident about taking it to completion, slowly the organization involved with them, withdraws from it. However the NGO keeps a track of the activities undertaken and its progress.

12.6Benefits of Participatory Communication Methods:

1. Participatory communication helps to endure the process of getting services of the local people.
2. Participatory communication enables the common people to get information of policies and plans for the upliftment of the community with the help of dialogue, debate and activities of engagement.
3. Objectives are set to achieve the progress of the community. Participatory communication becomes a instrument to monitor that progress.
4. Local groups can reflect, learn , assess a project by way of communication as they get ample opportunities.
5. It gives an opportunity to build rapport with an organisation.
6. Participatory communicaton methods give a voice to a wider range of stakeholders as the process is even more useful than the outcome.
7. It gives opportunities to gain insights into gender, hierarchy, collaboration and consensus issues.
8. There is more emphasis on active and experiential learning.

12.7Risks and Constraints of Participatory Communication Methods:

1.Differences of opinion:

The community is divided into smaller groups when there are differences of opinion among the participants. Dealing with this bickering becomes a great challenge. It may occur on objectives, the methods of doing things and involvement or exclusion of certain members of the community. It also depends on who has the leadership and how they deal with the other members of the group.

2. Difficulty in Replicating:

Every community has people who have some special qualities. Besides, the structure and attributes of the community itself are important for success. They are specific to that particular community. Other communities may not possess the same kind of efficiency. Thus, it is not possible to use the same strategies which were successful in a particular community. Depending upon the potential of the people in the adopted community, changes have to be made in the initiatives taken to bring about a change in the situations prevalent there.

3. Type of Governance in the state: In certain states the control of the government is very strict. In such cases it becomes very difficult for the organization to seek participation. It is a challenge for the NGOs to get local participation and motivate them to communicate with others.

4. NGOs’ Specialization: In the early days, most NGOs worked on almost all type of issues in the community. However, now most NGOs have specialized areas of work. These organizations face difficult problems when working in the participatory mode because people often identify issues and problems outside the NGOs’ areas of specialization for action. A solution to this problem is collaboration with other organizations.

5. Being Concomitant with “Other” Communication: Few communities live in total isolation from the outside world. In terms of communication they may be reached by entertainment films in cinemas, television, radio, newspapers and magazines from the cities, salespeople from companies and others who do not practice participatory forms of communication. Facilitators need to introduce ways of coexisting so that people may sharpen their ability to interpret the communication reaching them.

6. Long-term Commitment: Participation takes time. It is a process which cannot be rushed to meet deadlines. Long-term commitment is required not just of the funding agency but also of the people. Participation takes up precious time and energy (which are often the only resources) of members of the community involved. Programmes should ideally be designed to deliver sufficient short-term benefits to motivate the people in maintaining their commitment towards attaining long-term goals.

7. Flexible approaches: NGOs and their funding agencies must adopt flexible management approaches in the implementation of participatory programmes. The objectives, anticipated outputs, and work plan described in documentation for participatory projects will probably change as people begin to take an active part in shaping project activities. Such administrative changes should be welcomed as indication of success rather than symptoms of poor project design.

12.8Let us sum up:

In this unit we have learnt the meaning of Participatory Communication, its key aspects and its phases when used as a method of community development.Participation is not quick, easy or simple.However, people in the field generallyagree that the benefits make the initialinvestment well worth the efforts. Progress of the community may depend upon the participation of the local people, their commitment and their potential capabilities. It is difficult to replicate strategies used in one community into the other.

12.14 References:

• World Bank Working Paper No. 170, Participatory Communication: A Practical Guide-By Thomas Tufte, Paolo Mefalopulos
• www.fao.org/docrep/006/AD424E/ad424e03.htm
• http://www.southbound.com.my/communication/parcom.htm
• http://community.eldis.org/.59c6ec19/VSO_Facilitator_Guide_to_Participatory_Approac hes_Principles.pdf