[p2p-research] Fwd: The Drum Beat - 526 - Horizontal Communication and Collaboration

Mon Jan 25 10:46:37 CET 2010

MENTIONS Patrick Crogan <Patrick.Crogan at uwe.ac.uk>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Drum Beat <drumbeat at comminit.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 5:57 AM
Subject: The Drum Beat - 526 - Horizontal Communication and Collaboration
To: michelsub2004 at gmail.com

The Drum Beat - Issue 526 - Horizontal Communication and Collaboration
January 25 2010

===

This issue includes:

* WHY horizontal communication?
* Haiti response: NEW POLL, NEW DISCUSSION.
* Articulating the horizontal STRATEGY.
* Welcome to 3 NEW CI ASSOCIATES!
* Submit horizontal collaboration CASE STUDIES.
* Selected illustrations: AFRICAN communication.

===

>From The Communication Initiative Network - where communication and media
are central to social and economic development.

Subscribe to The Drum Beat: http://www.comminit.com/en/user/register
Access this issue online at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_526.html

Drum Beat Subscribers: 45,003
CI Portal User Sessions, past 12 months: 3,008,060

===

This issue of The Drum Beat examines the strategy of horizontal
communication as a driver of social change. This is also a core principle
driving the work of The Communication Initiative. It offers selections of
resources and initiatives that either explicitly or only implicitly
illuminate or illustrate just a few avenues into the "why" and "how" and
"where" of collaboration between those living in economically poorer,
developing countries.

Please send additional project, evaluation, strategic thinking, and
materials information on horizontal communication for development at any
time. Contact Deborah Heimann at dheimann at comminit.com

===

STRATEGIC FOUNDATION FOR HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION

1.      Southern Collaboration 'Key to Adaptation', Says Climate Scientist
by Katherine Nightingale
Published in June 2008, this article explores the claim that developing
countries will succeed in adapting to climate change only by sharing local
understanding and knowledge with other low-income nations. Whereas
"vertical", "top-down" knowledge transfer may arguably be a valid strategy
for mitigating climate change, "[a]daptation can't be 'invented' in the same
way as mitigation techniques. With adaptation you learn by doing." One idea
explored here is that, to strengthen information at a local level, the
research community needs to be brought together with practitioners such as
non-governmental organisation (NGO) representatives, and local work and
pilot studies arguably need to be carried out to engage policymakers at a
country level.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/282658/306

2.      So You Are Thinking of Moving South! What Do You Need to Know and
Ask?
by Marian Nell and Janet Shapiro
This May 2007 document looks into some of the issues pertaining to the
relocation of the central functions of international organisations from the
"global north" to the "global south". The opening chapter explores why
organisations might consider relocation based on some considerations of
participation, power, and recognition. "Northern" organisations should
recognise the growing awareness among "southern" nations that they have much
to offer each other in horizontal networks. It is suggested that
agenda-setting for development may be more effective if done by the
developing countries themselves.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/268638

3.      Realizing Rights through Social Guarantees: An Analysis of New
Approaches to Social Policy in Latin America and South Africa
This February 2008 World Bank study considers social guarantees - sets of
legal or administrative mechanisms that determine specific entitlements and
obligations, related to certain rights, and ensure the fulfilment of those
obligations on the part of the state - as tools for social policy design and
service delivery. The paper examines experiences in Peru, Uruguay,
Guatemala, and Chile in the application of a human rights approach to social
policy. A South Africa case study was added in response to an expressed
interest on the part of Latin American and South African policymakers to
engage in south-south exchange and learning. One insight to emerge is that
"[s]ocial guarantees can be modified or updated without harming the values
they protect, because they take into consideration aspects such as culture,
availability of resources, public consensus, etc. Therefore social
guarantees are flexible, adaptable, and make it possible to avoid falling
back on standardized solutions."
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/290820

4.      Look Before You Leap: Ten Conditions for Successfully Motivating for
Change
by Neil Orr and David Patient
This September 2009 article presents 10 factors for translating motivation
into actual change. Condition 6 involves identifying both internal and
external factors that may be barriers to change. Per Condition 8, for many
problems it is important to ensure that the change methods are compatible
with the community's "identity and core value system, referred to as
fine-tuning horizontal change, or to expand such identities and values into
greater complexity, referred to as an expand-out horizontal change."
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/306335

5.      Community Radio for Development Email Discussion Report
This report summarises an email discussion hosted by id21 in early 2006
focused on community radio; over 450 people subscribed and 118 people with
experience in over 40 countries contributed their views. id21 found that
"community radio stations internationally can learn from each other.
Activists need to explore opportunities for south-south networking and set
up platforms where ideas and programmes can be shared, resources generated
and pooled and where people can lobby for change."
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/220330

===

Please VOTE in a POLL on the response to 2010 Haiti crisis
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/308941

How would you rate the international development community's response to the
tragedy in Haiti? Why?

Response has been:
* Excellent
* Good
* Appropriate
* Inappropriate
* Average
* Bad

VOTE and COMMENT at http://www.comminit.com/en/node/308941

===

Please also JOIN A DISCUSSION on the 2010 Haiti Crisis

http://groups.comminit.com/node/308958

This group is a space for people involved in local, national, and
international development, including communication and media, to share
thoughts on progress in Haiti.

To join and contribute please click on "Join". You will need to register/log
in [see top right]. There is a process to get a new password if you have a
log in for this new site, but have forgotten your password (see the "Request
New Password" tab under Login). You may use your same username and password
as you have on The CI website, but you must log in separately here, in order
to join groups and start networking.

http://groups.comminit.com/node/308958

===

HORIZONTAL STRATEGIES IN PRACTISE

6.      International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) - Global
This is a global effort to build capacity for analysis and implementation of
development policy in the field of poverty reduction. IPC-IG is engaged in
forming a global research community of experts, networks, and institutions
to facilitate the learning and exchange of good development and policy
practices among developing countries on poverty issues. For instance, IPC-IG
is strengthening collaboration with researchers and governments in countries
such as China, India, Mexico, and South Africa. IPC-IG also hosts global
conferences that bring researchers and policymakers from various countries
to Brazil to engage in dialogue on issues such as "Gearing Macroeconomic
Policies to Reverse the HIV/AIDS Epidemic" and "Equity and Social Mobility:
Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba and South Africa".
Contact: contact.service at ipc-undp.org
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/276490

7.      Global Photography Campaign on Humanizing Development
This participatory photography project aims to promote and showcase visual
examples of people winning the battle against poverty, social exclusion, and
marginalisation. By encouraging horizontal cooperation, the IPC-IG hopes to
present alternative visions of development, which is often portrayed through
images of desolation and despair. The goal is to illuminate the human face
of the initiatives, programmes, ideas, and partnerships that are changing
the lives of millions of people throughout the developing and transitional
world.
Contact: contact.service at ipc-undp.org OR ipc at ipc-undp.org
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/297905

8.      Information and Communication Technology Capacity Building for Asia
Network (ITCAN) - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, East Timor / Timor-Leste, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
This 2-year information and communication technology (ICT) capacity-building
project engaged NGOs working in the field of sexual and reproductive health,
especially HIV/AIDS, in 17 countries in South and Southeast Asia. As part of
this work, ITCAN established an electronic forum encouraged dialogue on ICTs
- both on a vertical and horizontal basis - to help stakeholders identify
synergies, share ideas and solutions, and discuss successful strategies.
Contact: info at pngoc.com OR pagf4 at pngoc.com
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/118740/307

9.      Oral History Methodology: Sephis Workshops in Vietnam and
Philippines
by Sean Field
Published in late 2007 as one output of the Sephis [South-South Exchange
Programme for Research on the History of Development] initiative, this
resource provides an overview of oral history methodology and offers
guidance on doing interviews and fieldwork. The author argues that "the
person who knows the most about their life stories and their community is
not the interviewer/researcher but the interviewee. This argument is a
conceptual break with perceiving researchers as 'experts', and rather
approaches interviewees as having valuable life stories and localised forms
of popular knowledge....A key question becomes what strategies will build
respectful and co-operative relationships between communities and
researchers?"
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/306989

10.     Compendium of Innovative E-government Practices: Volume II
This September 2006 document is a compilation of 200 case studies
highlighting e-government strategies and applications, organised by region,
in 57 countries around the world. Its purpose is "to create a venue for
promoting innovative e-government solutions, services and products developed
and yet to be developed by governments. The Compendium also enables
South-South and North-South information-sharing of their respective
experiences and innovative practices."
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/271106/307

11.     Participatory Development (PD) Forum/ Forum sur le développement
participatif (DP) - Global
This is an international network of development practitioners, NGOs,
academics/action researchers, private sector representatives, and policy
makers interested in advancing reflection and practice in the area of
participatory development (PD). PD Forum offers international conferences
and an interactive website in an effort to deepen the development
community's understanding of participation, strengthen vertical and
horizontal dialogue, and provoke work to make participation more meaningful
and more effective in promoting social justice. PD Forum emphasises for
people's capacity and right to define and control their own development, in
order to achieve social justice and equality. Individual and collective
ownership of activities is encouraged.
Contact: pdforum at pdforum.org
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/133670/307

See also:
*       South Project - Global
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/123975

===

3 NEW CI ASSOCIATES!

The following organisations have contributed to the support of The CI
Network by recently becoming CI Associates. We take this opportunity to
thank them.

* Family Health International, secretariat of the Interagency Youth Working
Group -
http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=827f098b31594bfb84acb23f17c20273
* Performing Life, Inc. -
http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=06575957a9af260e5d4c9ce11836f475
* StepFilms and Communications -
http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=3feddcbfa2c839781476c00a4a90e56a

Consider joining these and other CI Associates who are "giving back" by
helping preserve, sustain, and advance this growing knowledge sharing and
strategic development process. Many levels of participation are open!

For a full list of current CI Associates, please see
http://www.comminit.com/ci_associates/members

For details and to sign up, please see
http://www.comminit.com/ci_associates/register Thank you.

===

CALL FOR HORIZONTAL COLLABORATION CASE STUDIES

The "Southern-led" Task Team on South-South Cooperation (TT-SSC) works to
collect, analyse, and disseminate evidence on the synergies between the
principles of aid effectiveness and the practice of SSC. As part of its
3-fold mandate emerging from the Accra Agenda for Action, TT-SSC is
conducting analytical work based on case stories from around the world
featuring horizontal cooperation in practice. Practioners are invited to
submit case stories which describe an SSC experience or activity in the
context of the aid effectiveness agenda. The case stories will be featured
online and during the High-Level Event (HLE) on South-South Cooperation and
Capacity Development in Bogota, Colombia, March 24-26 2010. These SSC
experiences are expected to also deepen the pool of evidence informing the
policymaking process heading to the IV High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness
to be hosted in Seoul, South Korea, in 2011.

For more information and/or to submit a case study, click here -
http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=ef32c4e6c2d97273eed557779d437348 - or
contact southsouthcases at gmail.com

Deadline for submission: January 29 2010.

===

SELECTED EXAMPLES FROM AFRICA

12.     African Labour Radio Project - Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi,
Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
This is an effort to establish a labour media network involving 10
Anglophone African countries. The network's primary purpose is to produce
and broadcast weekly or fortnightly labour radio shows relevant to a
working-class perspective on community and/or public radio stations in each
of the participating countries and via the internet. In addition to creating
programming, the project builds radio broadcasting skills and media capacity
for participating trade unions and countries, as well as skills in engaging
with mainstream media. Organisers hope to improve communication and
partnerships between the African continent-wide labour movements and to
encourage greater international labour solidarity at both leadership and
grassroots levels.
Contact: martin at wwrp.org.za OR admin at wwmp.org.za OR wwrp at lrs.org.za
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/283426/2754

13.     Abahlali baseMjondolo (Shackdwellers Movement) - South Africa
Launched in early 2005, this movement originated from a road blockade
organised by residents of the Kennedy Road settlement who did so to protest
the sale, to a local industrialist, of a piece of nearby land long promised
by the local municipal councillor to shack dwellers for housing. Since then,
the movement has grown to include communities from more than 30 settlements.
One of the movement's main strategies is organising road blockades to
protest service delivery, land, and human rights abuses occurring in
informal settlements. It also organises marches on offices of local
councillors, police stations, municipal offices, newspaper offices, and the
City Hall. In 2006, the movement held a boycott of the local government
elections under the slogan "No Land, No House, No Vote." The movement also:
produces press statements, pamphlets, and newspaper articles around
shackdwellers' issues; holds discussions in community-level meetings; and
develops songs to forward their cause.
Contact:
http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=edfdf4ed3f18a84a1f4d2723fff83c58
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/286163

14.     Media Action Plan (MAP) on HIV/AIDS and Gender - Angola, Botswana,
Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe
This 3-year project worked to devise tools for and provide support to
Southern African media houses to develop and adopt HIV/AIDS and gender
policies in newsrooms. The first step was to gather best practices on
HIV/AIDS and gender workplace policies and identify possible tools or
resources to be used in the process. These were used to develop a handbook.
Later in the 7-phase process, a core team of facilitators from each country
was trained in the use of the handbook so that they could drive the process
within their own country.
Contact: map at genderlinks.org.za
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/271332/347

15.     African Elections Project - Africa
This project seeks to develop the media's capacity to use ICT as a tool for
election coverage and the provision of information and knowledge related to
planned elections in various countries throughout Africa. An online portal
provides country-specific relevant election information contributed by
journalists and ordinary citizens. The project also uses short messaging
service (SMS)/mobile phone applications as broadcast, monitoring, and
citizen journalism tools, using FrontlineSMS and short code 1927 on all
networks.
Contact: cielections at penplusbytes.org OR ghelections at penplusbytes.org OR
guineaelections at penplusbytes.org
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/281827/2754

16.     Maarifa Community Knowledge Centres - Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
This is a project of Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), which
characterises itself as "not an exclusive network. Anyone working in an arid
or semi arid part of Eastern Africa can join the Network....ALIN provides
information services to its members free of charge." Ten community knowledge
centres have been established in rural areas of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
There, community members can access and share information on how to improve
their livelihoods through new technologies for farming, livestock keeping,
coping with environment and climate change, and current marketing
information. The centres offer basic ICT training and act as information
access points for community development workers. A typical Maarifa Centre is
managed by a selected advisory committee of about 5-8 members drawn from
local community stakeholders.
Contact: Noah Lusaka info at alin.or.ke
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/297001/307

17.     Women's Arts Institute Africa (wAi Africa) - Africa
This African organisation seeks to mobilise women in the arts to create
platforms for business and academic dialogues on the arts, generate
practical knowledge on the arts, integrate the arts into government
policies, and advocate for the use of the arts as a development tool in
Africa. Amongst wAi's activities are organising conferences and seminars to
enable women in the arts and other stakeholders to present their researched
propositions and inventions, thereby creating an interactive environment for
participants to share, network, and exchange relevant information with each
other to effect change.
Contact: info at waiafrica.org OR whyafrica at gmail.com
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/293191