Current Projects
The CFSC Consortium works throughout the world advocating for and implementing participatory communication approaches designed to help people make the shifts they want and need in public values and beliefs that are essential for long-term social change. Below is a list of some of the projects we are currently involved in. This list will be updated regularly.
Support for the Nelson Mandela Foundation's Community Conversations in South Africa
Since February 2010, Consortium staff Denise Gray-Felder and Ailish Byrne have supported management and staff of the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) Dialogue Programme and associated Community Conversation (CC) facilitators to strengthen the evaluation of the Community Conversations. The Consortium has engaged people involved with CCs on HIV/AIDS and related issues, but the evaluation methodology and learning sessions could be applied to community conversations or dialogues on any issue.
WaterAid
Consortium staff are working with WaterAid in training journalists in Mali and Burkina Faso on water and sanitation issues.
Support to the Fairmount Initiative of the Urban League of Essex County, New Jersey
The Consortium has partnered with the Urban League of Essex County, New Jersey to help revitalize the urban neighborhood of Fairmount in New Jersey, USA, through grants from the Wachovia Foundation and the State of New Jersey. The Fairmount Initiative will engage residents, community leaders, and business owners in a series of community dialogues to help them craft a collective vision and a plan for their neighborhood. Consortium staff Denise Gray-Felder and E'lon Cohen have developed a communication strategy together with input from the organizers and have been coordinating communication efforts for different program activities.
Ongoing work to strengthen the evaluation of social change communication programmes
Since early 2009 Ailish Byrne, the Consortium's Senior Associate for Research and Evaluation, has been leading an initiative to strengthen the evaluation of social change communication, with specific reference to HIV/AIDS prevention programmes. The paper has a wider relevance, i.e. beyond HIV/AIDS programmes, raising issues and suggesting recommendations that are applicable to many development and social change initiatives, across sectors. The paper is being produced as one component in a multi-staged ongoing research and learning process, funded by UNAIDS. It stems from growing recognition of the need for expanded approaches to monitoring and evaluation in HIV/AIDS programmes, of the need to learn from innovative developments in other fields, and for practical guidance in this area.
The attached papers by Rick Davies on Social Network Analysis and David Byrne on Working within a Complexity Frame of Reference were written as contributions to the larger paper, which will shortly be available on the Consortium website. For more information about the broader research and learning process, click here to see Ailish's recent article in MAZI 19.
KnowWater Project
This project, a joint initiative of the CFSC Consortium and WaterLife Foundation, is now in development. Its goal is to provide, free of charge, essential information to the world’s poor people on water—its availability, cost, delivery and distribution, quality, regulation and social and political concerns impacting accessibility. We will provide this information in an easy-to-use format. We will also provide the information on a customized, subscription basis to those in commercial business, industry, government and multilateral organizations.
Communication for Empowerment: UNDP Oslo Governance Centre
In partnership with UNDP Oslo Governance Centre, with funding from the U.N. Democracy Fund, this initiative seeks to accelerate democratic participation in national development processes in six countries of Africa and Asia. The project will comprise four main elements: national consultations, information and communication audits, building partnerships to develop strategic responses to meet the needs of poor and vulnerable people and disseminating results to regional and global audiences.
ICT and Poverty Project: UNDP and Swiss Development Cooperation
This effort is a resource guide for practitioners in development and information communication technology communities. It aims to help bridge the “paradigm gap” by providing background information and a series of tools that can be used by practitioners to build a common understanding of the potential-and the limitations—of ICTs within the context of poverty-reduction strategies and comparable (national and sectoral) strategies with which they deal. The guide will be available by year-end.
Stop TB Technical Advisory Group
The Consortium holds the only non-medical seat on this scientific panel. We provide advice and counsel on how to bring about needed cultural and social change.
UNDP Communication for Development
The Consortium has been selected by UNDP headquarters as training vendor for its regional offices in communication for development.
UNAIDS
The Consortium is consulting with UNAIDS on ways to incorporate communication for social change into HIV prevention response.
Master’s Degree Curriculum Development at Universidad del Norte, Colombia; Kansas State University, United States and Kenya; Ohio University Without Walls, State University of New York (SUNY), Binghamton
This ongoing commitment prepares practitioners, researchers and teachers who will generate theoretical and applied knowledge useful in addressing social issues facing developing countries. The Consortium is working to have its suggested approach to curriculum used within and between developing countries.
Knowledge Resources
The CFSC Anthology: Historical and Contemporary Readings (English and Spanish Version)
This groundbreaking work brings together a broad variety of views on communication for social change. The book features more than 150 key thinkers from around the globe. Edited by Alfonso Gumucio-Dagron and Thomas Tufte, the anthology reviews the evolution of communication for social change thinking from the early 20th century to the present. With more than 1,000 pages, this reference work is essential for communication and development experts, as well as for anyone conducting business globally.
Mazi: The Consortium’s Online Quarterly Report
The title of our online report means "together.” Mazi covers critical trends and issues in communication for social change. The report comprises photo essays showing CFSC in action, position papers, case stories and useful resources. It’s available free of charge to thousands of practitioners, academics and supporters from all over the world.
Voices of the Magdalena DVD: CFSC in Action via the Power of Local Community Radio (Available in Spanish and English)
This 35-minute video documentary on the community radio network in the Magdalena region of Colombia shows how poor and marginalized people caught in the violent and destructive confrontation between guerrilla and paramilitary forces use community radio. The documentary highlights the powerful role of communication for social change in the midst of conflict that has caused enormous economic, political and social damage to the people living in the region.
The CFSC Body of Knowledge
The CFSC Consortium’s Body of Knowledge is a searchable, comprehensive database of more than 3,500 entries that can be assessed from the Consortium’s Web site. Updated continually, it is a multi-language guide to books, articles, brochures, pamphlets, position papers and other writings on communication for social change and development communication. It is a welcome resource for practitioners and academics around the globe.
Case Stories
The Consortium continually creates case stories that illustrate the effective use of CFSC principles and that can be practical, up-to-date tools for practitioners, academics and supporters.
Outreach
CFSC Network for Practitioners
The Consortium serves as the central repository and essential source of information for practitioners from around the world who are dedicated to implementing CFSC methods, helping them update their skills and learn from the network’s vast experience.
CFSC University Networks
The Consortium serves as the facilitator of a global network of leading academics and institutions that offer specialized studies in communication for development and social change. The Consortium fosters exchanges among the university network members.
Completed Projects
Support to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Consortium staff Denise Gray-Felder and Ailish Byrne were invited to facilitate a dialogue between AGRA and civil society organizations on the key challenges in reaching shared objectives for food security on the continent. The Consortium provided critical input on how to better engage civil society group, international aid organizations, researchers, farmers’ organizations