"Por su propia naturaleza, trabajar eficazmente por el derecho de las personas a ser escuchadas es una tarea compleja y multidimensional, y requiere acciones a diferentes niveles y sectores, valiéndonos de diversas estrategias. El objetivo de esta guía es orientar nuestro trabajo y hacer hincapié
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en este elemento esencial. Plasma el objetivo de cambio de Oxfam Internacional sobre el derecho de las personas a ser escuchadas y su propósito es ayudarle a analizar detalladamente la complejidad inherente y a tomar decisiones sobre los distintos enfoques que se deben poner en marcha para alcanzar sus objetivos." (Introducción a la guía de aprendizaje, página 3)
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"In Making Democracy Fun, Josh Lerner offers a novel solution for the sad state of our deliberative democracy: the power of good game design. What if public meetings featured competition and collaboration (such as team challenges), clear rules (presented and modeled in multiple ways), measurable pro
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gress (such as scores and levels), and engaging sounds and visuals? These game mechanics would make meetings more effective and more enjoyable -- even fun. Lerner reports that institutions as diverse as the United Nations, the U.S. Army and grassroots community groups are already using games and game-like processes to encourage participation. Drawing on more than a decade of practical experience and extensive research, he explains how games have been integrated into a variety of public programs in North and South America. He offers rich stories of game techniques in action, in children's councils, social service programs and participatory budgeting and planning. With these real-world examples in mind, Lerner describes five kinds of games and 26 game mechanics that are especially relevant for democracy. He finds that when governments and organizations use games and design their programs to be more like games, public participation becomes more attractive, effective and transparent." (Publisher description)
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"The survey administered for this issue measures public attitudes and perceptions towards the adoption of social media by Arab governments for the purpose of public service delivery. Respondents were asked about their usage of government social media pages, their perceptions of benefits and risks in
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volve in using social media for service delivery, perceptions towards possible improvements in government’s use of social media, and government and civic social media practices. Overall, our findings show that perceptions about the use of social media were positive – 55% of respondents said they strongly support the use of social media by government for the design and delivery of public services. Respondents had high expectations of the benefits of using social media for citizen engagement for the purpose of improving service delivery. They agreed that social media made government entities and officials more accessible and collaboration more feasible." (Page 7)
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"Media consumption today takes on first order meanings that we can challenge, understand and clarify. This is where the audience learns to believe in watchdogging and vice versa. Citizen watchdog groups (Veedurias) attempt to critically understand public narratives beyond first order meanings that a
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re not necessarily oppositional. These readings provide a new opportunity to understand the medium, and the audience that obtains some satisfaction by listening to radio, listening to local or international music, and by watching and interacting with TV programming. Citizen watchdog groups and observatories confront the challenge of watching, debating and proposing in order to achieve a better understanding of the public world from their own private worlds. These groups and observatories are located in that interaction between public and private issues in the mass media, tracing the footprints left by public/private/intimate actors. Citizen watchdog groups and observatories analyze the mediations and intermediations that are regularly built." (Summary)
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"This paper draws on the contrast between community media and the nature of its communities in Africa that are not participatory but use participatory media. The general contention is that participatory media in Africa preside over non-participatory communities. The paper uses data collected at one
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Ugandan community media to prove that the limitations between community media and ‘the community’ require over half a century to solve. The immediate solution should be to rethink the idea of community, pay more attention not just to the nature of which media can develop which community as if it (community) was a homogeneous entity but also the idea of which community has the ability to host which media. The paper concludes by suggesting a redefinition of media to include non-media forms that show more potential in enhancing participation for all than community media." (Abstract)
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"Campaigns and movements targeting corruption often face decentralized targets rather than an identifiable dictator or external government, and can be found both in undemocratic and democratic systems. Graft and abuse are manifested in a systemic manner rather than a hodgepodge collection of illicit
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transactions. Consequently, this research brings to light new applications of civil resistance beyond the more commonly known cases against occupations, such as the Indian independence movement, and authoritarian regimes from Chile to Poland. It also expands our understanding about the dynamics of how people collectively wield nonviolent power for the common good. The focus of this research is on citizen agency: what civic actors and regular people—organized together and exerting their collective power—are doing to curb corruption as they define and experience it. Hence, the analytical framework is based on the skills, strategies, objectives, and demands of such initiatives, rather than on the phenomenon of corruption itself, which has been judiciously studied for more than two decades by scholars and practitioners from the anticorruption and development realms. I selected cases that met the following criteria: they were “popular” initiatives. They were civilian-based, involved grassroots participation, and were led and implemented by individuals from the civic realm, rather than governments or external actors, such as donors, development institutions, and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs); they were nonviolent. They did not threaten or use violence to further their aims; they involved some degree of organization and planning, which varied depending on the scope—objectives, geographical range, duration—of the civic initiative; multiple nonviolent actions were employed (thus, instances of one-off demonstrations or spontaneous protests were not considered); objectives and demands were articulated; the civic initiative was sustained over a period of time." (Introduction, pages 2-3)
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"This report focuses on the role of factual debate and discussion programming, defined for the purposes of this review as “dialogic formats”, on political participation, knowledge and efficacy [...] The review of the existing evidence base is followed by an in-depth look at the relationship betw
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een exposure to one of BBC Media Action’s own debate programme formats and political participation. Factual debate and discussion programme formats have been implemented in a number of countries in which BBC Media Action has worked in recent years. This paper presents data from Nepal, where the political debate programme Sajha Sawal (Common Questions) has been broadcast nationally on radio and television for more than five years. The analysis provides evidence that exposure to a debate programme on the radio – which fulfils a mediated deliberation function – is positively associated with both latent and manifest forms of political participation. While it is not inferred that there is a causal relationship between the media output and political outcomes, the evidence presented goes some way to adding to the body of evidence of the impact dialogic programme formats have on interpersonal political discussion and more manifest types of participation in a developing country context, even when controlling for demographic factors and other personal characteristics." (Executive summary)
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"The book questions whether and how young citizens in Africa engage with media and communications technologies and platforms in a desire to be included in the change processes of their societies. The theme echoes some of the claims made by disenchanted and frustrated youth and other citizens in the
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streets of North Africa’s cities in 2011 and 2012. They were severely critical of the governance structures in their countries, mass social mobilizations took place, governments fell and, in the aftermath, the slow process of transition continued, now with one tyrant less but still with uncertain outcomes and huge challenges for the social and economic development of these countries. Youth in particular engaged massively, visibly, loudly and dramatically around demands to be involved and included in their countries’ development processes. This yearbook taps into the less visible and dramatic, but nevertheless highly dynamic and influential, process of media development and the enlargement of youth-driven, deliberative spaces which sub-Saharan Africa is currently experiencing." (Nordicom website)
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"Fostering a participatory political culture is a crucial part of the on-going transformation processes which we witness across North African and Middle Eastern countries since 2011. This paper considers which role participatory communication plays in these processes, by examining the potential of c
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itizens’ radios to accompany Tunisia’s transition at a grassroots level. Analysing the case of Radio 6 Tunis – a local, non-commercial Internet-radio founded by Tunisian journalists under the rule of Ben Ali in 2007 – citizens’ radios are discussed as sites of political contestation and cultivation of critical consciousness. While they empower citizens to reclaim both their voice and public space, their influence is however limited. The manifold challenges which citizens' radios face in the transitional context of post-autocratic Tunisia, may well impede nascent democratisation dynamics." (Abstract)
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"Ferramenta fundamental para fiscalizar e abrir espaço à contribuição social, os conselhos já são instrumentos consolidados em setores como saúde e educação, mas ainda lutam para respirar quando o tema é a garantia do direito à liberdade de expressão, reiteradamente condicionada pelo pod
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er econômico. A obra resgata o papel fundamental dos conselhos que jogam a favor da implementação de políticas públicas e da realização da democracia direta, ao permitir a participação dos atores sociais na elaboração de propostas." (Apresentação, página 7)
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"Blogs have become a communicative alternative for Cuban civil society in recent years. Cuban communities, inside and outside the island, are characterized by substantial ideological differences and economic gaps that highlight the challenges for consensus building and collective action in the count
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ry’s politics. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), however, are gradually facilitating the creation of spaces outside the control of the state for the exchange of ideas about the present and future of the nation. Through content analysis and qualitative interpretation, we undertake a case study of the most renowned Cuban blog, ‘Generación Y’, to evaluate users’ participation, the content they generate for the site, and the nature of debates taking place within it. Our findings show that while this blog opens an unprecedented opportunity for Cubans to engage in relatively unrestricted political dialogue, its users tend to favour expressive participation and antagonistic exchanges over the rational deliberations associated with traditional conceptualizations of the notion of the public sphere." (Abstract)
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"In the twenty-first century, community radio is fulfilling an increasingly important role in the world’s mediascape. This book documents the ways in which community radio broadcasters and activists are using the medium in countries around the world to challenge political corruption, aid the trans
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ition to political democracy and broadcast voices that are otherwise unheard. The contributors to the volume are academics and practitioners from five continents, many with first-hand experience of community radio. Each chapter demonstrates the pivotal role that small radio stations can play in developing, sustaining and invigorating communities. The book charts campaigns for the legalisation of community radio and relates them to a theoretical context, while providing illustrations and examples from community radio stations around the world." (Publisher description)
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"Panos is working with 20 radio stations across Uganda to give voice to the voiceless through facilitating debate. It isagainst this background that Panos Eastern Africa (PEA) has developed this Guide to help our partner radio stations and journalists improve the quality of their debate and hope it
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will be useful to the media in general. The guide therefore highlights the role of radio producers and moderators in reaching rural communities recognizing that they too can set agenda for news and debate on radio, thereby positively contributing to the country’s development in all spheres. The rural debate methodology has highlighted the potential radio has to create an informed society that can hold leaders at the different levels to account." (Foreword)
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"The Community Radio Support Centre (CRSC) at the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) assessed the performance of 15 community radios based on the Community Radio Performance Assessment System (CR-PAS) in 2012. The assessment was a first full-fledged test after a successful piloted the
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system in 2011. The radio stations were provided with organization development (OD) support to address to the findings of the pilot assessment. The OD support provided the stations with advice and mentoring on improving their structures, systems and processes to meet the requirement of community radios [...] None of the 15 stations scored enough to be included in ‘model community radio’ category, three qualified as ‘performing’, four as progressing, two as evolving, and six as ‘endeavoring’. If the previous assessment is taken as the baseline then the overall performance of the stations increased - from 44 to 48 - in six months and after the OD input. There has been an upward movement of the stations in terms of categories, as shown by reduction of number of stations in the endeavoring category and increase in the performing category. This suggests that frequent assessments such as this can encourage the stations to improve performance." (Executive summary)
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"This publication provides readers with fresh insights into the practice of participatory educational communication. The first section explores the educational potential of community media, reaching from participatory radio campaigns in Sub-Saharan Africa to school radios in Brazil. The second secti
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on, "stories of learning", shows the power of experience-based stories through interviews with community stakeholders or through drama and other cultural forms. The third section, "Praxis in Latin America", emphasises the centrality of popular and engaging formats, the importance of blended approaches, and the role of mobile and social media in reinforcing and complementing community-based broadcasting. The fourth section, "Praxis in the Commonwealth", examines strategies for enabling participation, experiences of collaboration at the local level, and the importance of assessing programme outcomes. The final section looks at how broadcasters and other community-based groups can make use of the voice and text functions of mobile telephones across different aspects of educational programming, including content provision, programme logistics and learner support." (CAMECO Update 2-2012)
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"The message matrix facilitates local stakeholder groups and community members to take an active, empowered role in content development for an educational communication programme. The method enables active participation of target audiences and stakeholder groups in the identification, analysis and r
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esolution of problems affecting the community. Use of the matrix underscores the significance of proactively and vigorously involving all stakeholders and leveraging their wealth of knowledge and experience. The message matrix helps to ensure that key messages of the programme — its core learning objectives — originate from people themselves rather than from outside experts or policy makers. Likewise, it helps to ensure that communication programmes are developed within proper cultural frameworks and in ways that engage stakeholders throughout and across the process of programme design, from setting overall objectives to framing key messages. The use of the matrix — for example, in a programme design workshop — anchors a participatory and consultative process that addresses existing and desired knowledge, attitudes and practices. The matrix helps to identify, analyse and classify audience behaviour, making it easier to provide relevant, well-defined and practicable solutions in the form of positive behaviours and demonstrable benefits that will motivate listeners to take action." (Pages 99-100)
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"In the field of citizen media research, considerably less attention has been paid to countries other than the US and those in Western Europe. This article is a case study that focuses on citizen media in Beijing – specifically, the Dazhalan [participatory video] project. Combining in-depth interv
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iews and textual analysis, the article demonstrates the uniqueness of citizen media under China’s state-party media system. The article also suggests that it was the collaboration among ordinary citizens, professionals and journalists that made it possible for citizen media to influence the mainstream media frame-building process." (Abstract)
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"Despite the enthusiasm for community-owned radio, a movement which has been steadily gaining pace since the implementation of new legislation of 2006, we are yet to find an understanding of who the community is in community radio. Through an extended case study, this analysis shows how “community
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participation” is constantly shifting. It presents three arguments: “community” is not a discrete entity; communities are dynamic; and communities are cognitive constructs." (Introduction)
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