The Drum Beat 218 - Discussing Communication and Natural Resource Management: Experience/Theory

***

In The Drum Beat #213 we focused on a new publication entitled "Communication & Natural Resource Management: Experience/Theory". Since then The CI together with FAO and The Operational Communication Unit for Sustainable Development at The World Bank have held an online discussion forum using the publication as a starting point to discuss the relation between experience and theory in the field of Communication & Natural Resource Management (CNRM). This issue of The Drum Beat seeks to capture some of the main themes of that discussion.

To read the document that resulted from this discussion, please click here.

The publication can be viewed and/or downloaded from FAO, click here.

***

The discussion was divided into 3 components or reflections each referring to the publication and the experiences and theories it presented:

DO YOU THINK IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEVELOP SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES USING ONE THEORETICAL APPROACH?
For many the answer was no:

"I think most practitioners in Communication for Development have moved beyond the need for unifying theories or models, and onto sets of guiding principles that are adjusted to local contexts..."
- Ricardo Ramirez

It was felt important to recognise that common principles could be distilled from many years of CNRM experience and several people listed principles they felt were central. Here are a few:

A. Start communicating, early in the life of a project or programme, with all the parties involved.

B. All the activities under the consultation and communication process should:
a) contribute to the social, environmental, and financial sustainability of the initiative,
b) be flexible and adapt to local needs and conditions,
c) promote the participation of the stakeholders throughout the life of the initiative, and
d) be conducted in a transparent and open manner.
- Don Richardson

C. Move forward at the pace of the community

D. Generate new knowledge and promote local content
- Ricardo Ramirez

E. Facilitate horizontal communication within the communities in which people are working.

F. Accompany the process with a communication plan involving other stakeholders (NGOs, other villages, timber companies) and local or national authorities.
- Guy Bessette

However, others emphasised the IMPORTANCE OF THEORY as a way to represent lessons, portray the less obvious, and provide persuasive arguments for the value of CNRM:

"...based on the experience of the past 40 years - we do have more than just general guiding principles for our work...While I agree that a single theoretical approach might not be possible, I feel quite strongly that guiding principles alone are not strong enough. They do not have enough leverage or 'clout'..."
- Maria Protz

"Our experiences when observed in theory can allow us to think and act more clearly... "
- Al Santos

"...in defence of theories, they often explain why things fail as much as why they succeed. This information is invaluable as it prevents mistakes."
- Kim Witte

Some came back to this relation between theory and practise at the end of the forum:

"Theory is a framework, an instrument of analysis, it provides depth to the process of thinking through the issues of development. Theory feeds practice and experience feeds theory. The problem, really, is the tendency to immediately translate theory into models and toolboxes."
- Alfonso Gumucio

"What is urgent/indispensable is a framework that allows structuring experience and "theorising practise". This is required to strengthen the foundations and raise communication for natural resource management at the level of a real discipline."
- Ketline Adodo

DO YOU THINK (different) THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER? HOW AND IN WHAT WAYS?

Many felt they were both contradictory AND complimentary but that opposing approaches could be used depending on the context and audience:

"...the different theories outlined in the manual are not necessarily complementary, unless they share the same perspective... The Aristotelian model could be considered more suitable for advocacy with policy makers, while the Buddhist model is definitely a participatory and community oriented model. Thus, the audience and the objective of the communication exercise will determine the selection of a model to follow."
- Silvia Balit

"Dialogue based or horizontal communication approach is best particularly in the natural resource management related work... however, communication support through vertical tools... would be vital to... solidify a social organization initiative aimed at natural resource management."
- M. Ismail Khan

Several people expanded on the above by focussing on the NEED FOR SKILLED COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONALS - people with the knowledge and experience to choose between various theories and approaches and relate these to context and needs:

"Professionals are crucial in this process and training, professional training (including training of trainers and at the community level) is vitally important, particularly... if communication is to become an integral component of successful development efforts."
- Vladimir Gai

"...there is an urgent need to differentiate the ones that have the knowledge and the skills to do communication on a professional level, from the "occasional communicator" given the fact that many people still seem to believe that since everybody communicates everybody can be a good communicator!"
- Paolo Mefalopulos

"Unless you are a professional communication for development specialist, it is not easy to select appropriate models or fundamentals to apply, especially in complex situations."
- Silvia Balit

WILL THIS BOOK BE USEFUL TO YOU IN YOUR WORK AND WHERE DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE MOST EFFECTIVELY USED: I.E. IN THE FIELD, IN SHORT TRAINING PROGRAMMES, IN UNIVERSITY COURSES ETC.?

AND,

WHAT HAS THE DISCUSSION TOLD YOU ABOUT EMERGING NEEDS AND ISSUES IN THE FIELD AND WHAT KINDS OF FURTHER COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION CAN HELP ADDRESS THESE NEEDS?

In the final reflection many sought to pull together various threads of discussion and to focus once again on the practical needs of communicators in the field. So far as the book itself was concerned some of the comments were:

"For something coming from as far and high as Rome and Washington, it is reasonably down to earth, carrying many practical case studies and lessons from diverse geographic regions and various socio-economic context. Couple of studies from India and China would have been more democratic... The book has enough meat for the academic circles to examine and further reflect on concepts, we the communication workers can administer all relevant ideas fitting into our work and mandate!"
- M. Ismail Khan

"I think this manual will be very useful in university courses that involve active hands on projects. I will definitely share the concept of this book with fellow researchers in ICTs and e-governance."
- Amit S. Pande

"This book can be a powerful tool in training programs at field and academic levels everywhere, and would be great to renew it periodically with other valuable experiences in a permanent feedback process."
- Marco Antonio Sánchez Izquierdo

"The resource book will be greatly enhanced if you manage to capture the most substantial contributions that have been made around the issue of common principles (Richardson, Ramirez, Balit, among other). Case studies are fine, however I believe there should be a whole chapter that expands the principles."
- Alfonso Gumucio

A number of people noted the NEED FOR FURTHER COMMUNICATION AND NETWORK BUILDING:

"This forum created great networking opportunities. I myself am able now to directly contact several of the participants in the forum for consultations and potential joint activities."
- Rawya El Dabi

"I think the essence of theory (and learning) should be how can we ensure that the learning process does not stop, that we don't become complacent with the knowledge we already have. Perhaps something that highlights the plurality and diversity in communication (and development in general) is needed to keep us constantly questioning and learning."
- Waad El-Hadidy

"..the importance of formal platforms to bring together professionals researchers and theoreticians to take stock and discuss these issues on a regular basis. Such platforms would serve as an observatory, a knowledge/experience laboratory and a resource base for communication professionals."
- Ketline Adodo

The above provides only a glimpse into the main themes and some sense of the depth and substance of the discussion. There are no conclusions or final statements to create a tidy closure though perhaps this is a step towards further discussion, learning and more effective communication for NRM.

***

The publication that documents this publication is available online - click here. The publication can be viewed and/or downloaded from FAO, click here.

***

A Pulse Poll was held simultaneously with the above discussion. Though participation was low, the results were as follows:

POLL: Is the field of natural resource management communication faced with major theoretical debates and differences over the methods and principles to use in developing and conducting natural resource management initiatives?

If yes, what are the major issues as you see them?

84.62 % Agree
7.69 % Disagree
7.69 % Unsure
Total number of participants: 13

***

The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.

Please send material for The Drum Beat to the Editor - Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com

To reproduce any portion of The Drum Beat, see our policy.

To subscribe, click here.