Resources

Communication for Development and Social Change

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Authors: 
Jan Servaes (Ed)
2008

Abstract

This book is about people and the processes needed to facilitate sharing of knowledge in order to achieve sustainable developmental change.  It underlines that development communication is based on dialogue, which is necessary to promote people’s participation.  It follows a two-way model and increasingly makes use of many-to-may forms of communication to facilitate the understanding of people’s perceptions, priorities and knowledge with its use of a number of tools, techniques, media and methods.  It aims to give voice to those most affected by the development issue(s) at stake, allowing them to participate directly in defining and implementing solutions. Based on the assumption that authentic participation directly addresses power and its distribution in society, which often decreases the advantage of certain elite groups, the authors argue that structural and sustainable change necessitates the redistribution of power.

SAS2: a guide to collaborative inquiry and social engagement

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Authors: 
Jacques M Chevalier and Daniel J Buckles
2008

Abstract

This book represents a significant international effort to support the creation and mobilization of practical, authentic knowledge for social change. The guiding principle behind SAS2 (Social Analysis Systems, www.sas2.net) is that group dialogue and social inquiry are crucial for local and global development. Social issues must be addressed socially and in a multistakeholder mode, not by private interests and experts alone, and the insights that emerge fully integrated into processes of knowledge production, planning, and decision-making.

Part 1 outlines the concepts and skillful means needed to support multistakeholder dialogue. It also provides detailed instructions on how to integrate and ground collaborative inquiry in the projects, plans, evaluations and activities of multiple stakeholders. Part 2 presents a selection of techniques for collaborative inquiry and examples of real-life applications in South Asia and Latin America. The examples focus on a range of issues including land tenure, local economic development, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and organizational development.

This book will be of use to researchers, facilitators and activists working with people to solve problems and support inclusive inquiry and decision-making. It will also be useful to scholars and academics studying and teaching participatory action research in the Social Sciences.

Facilitating multicultural groups: a practical guide

Authors: 
Christine Hogan
2007

Abstract

Facilitators are being called upon to work in international and cross-cultural arenas more than ever before to help groups identify and achieve their goals and resolve differences in areas including governance, education, health and community development.  This book provides a practical approach for facilitators needing to enhance their skills when working with people from a diverse range of backgrounds.  Using a step-by-step approach, it takes the facilitator through ideas, processes, models and frameworks that are designed to assist with the preparation, facilitation and evaluation of workshops.  Based on research and facilitator experiences, it advises how to adapt learning materials to suit specific situations and offers techniques to deal with conflict.

Negotiated Learning: collaborative monitoring in forest resource management

Authors: 
Irene Guijt (Ed)
2007

Abstract

This book aims to critically examine how monitoring can be an effective tool in participatory resource management.  It draws on the first-hand experiences of researchers and development professionals in eleven countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. Collective monitoring shifts the emphasis of development and conservation professionals from externally defined programs to a locally relevant process. It focuses on community participation in the selection of the indicators to be monitored as well as community participation in the learning and application of knowledge from the data that is collected. As with other aspects of collaborative management, collaborative monitoring emphasizes building local capacity so that communities can gradually assume full responsibility for the management of their resources. The cases in Negotiated Learning highlight best practices, but stress that collaborative monitoring is a relatively new area of theory and practice. The cases focus on four themes: the challenge of data-driven monitoring in forest systems that supply multiple products and serve diverse functions and stakeholders; the importance of building upon existing dialogue and learning systems; the need to better understand social and political differences among local users and other stakeholders; and the need to ensure the continuing adaptiveness of monitoring systems.

Democratic Dialogue: a handbook for practitioners

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Authors: 
Bettyre Pruitt and Philip Thomas
2007

Abstract

This handbook aims to offer a comprehensive overview of the use of dialogue processes to address societal challenges in an inclusive democratic way that engages a broad range of actors in bringing about positive change. It is addressed to people engaged in dialogue work and is thoroughly grounded in the experience of dialogue practitioners from around the world. It provides a conceptual framework that speaks to critical questions: “Why dialogue?”, “What is dialogue?” and “How does dialogue contribute to positive change?”, and guides the reader through putting these concepts into practice offering practical guidance and concrete examples for each step.  Three fully developed case studies show different approaches in three different regions: Latin America, Africa and Asia.  Also available in Spanish, French and Arabic.

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