New Roles for Communication in Development?

"In a frequently changing information environment, where bloggers and journalists are often viewed as more credible, useful or accessible sources than researchers, what does validity mean?"

Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Bulletin 43.5 "New Roles for Communication in Development?" explores the shift in the development communication landscape for researchers and research communicators. It represents a move away from a top-down dissemination model to a more nuanced understanding of how research can influence and support international development. "The very visible emergence of new technologies has been accompanied by other shifts in the politics and business of development knowledge: the understanding of what constitutes 'expert knowledge' in development, a growing emphasis on process over product in development research and new understandings of what drives social change and policy influence.

With the rise of participatory and co-constructed communications have come suggestions that we have neglected the rigour and 'hard evidence' needed to influence policy. As some have turned back to grassroots forms of communication such as community radio, they face ambivalence from others struggling to see what is new or innovative about such ‘archaic’ approaches. As such we find ourselves at an interesting juncture, one that this Bulletin aims to explore by drawing on the experiences of practitioners, theorists and community intermediaries from a wide range of disciplines."

Table of contents (the introduction and Seeing ‘With my Own Eyes’ are freely accessible; the remainder is by subscription):

"Introduction: Is Development Research Communication Coming of Age? (PDF)
Blane Harvey, Tessa Lewin and Catherine Fisher

UNDERSTANDING CONTEXT

• Deliberation, Dialogue and Debate: Why Researchers need to Engage with Others to Address Complex Issues - Ajoy Datta
• Stimulating Demand for Research Evidence: What Role for Capacity-building? - Kirsty Newman, Catherine Fisher and Louise Shaxson
• This Research does not Influence Policy - Patta Scott-Villiers
• Understanding Context in Learning-centred Approaches to Climate Change Communication - Blane Harvey, Liz Carlile, Jonathan Ensor, Ben Garside and Zachary Patterson
• Approaches to Development Research Communication - Tessa Lewin and Zachary Patterson

NETWORKS AND RELATIONSHIPS

• Cartographers, Conciliators and Catalysts: Understanding the Communicative Roles of Researchers - Nicholas Benequista and Joanna Wheeler
• Advances in Knowledge Brokering in the Agricultural Sector: Towards Innovation System Facilitation - Laurens Klerkx, Marc Schut, Cees Leeuwis and Catherine Kilelu
• Seeing "With my Own Eyes": Strengthening Interactions between Researchers and Schools (PDF) - Alun Davies, Bibi Mbete, Greg Fegan, Sassy Molyneux and Sam Kinyanjui
• Passing on the Hot Potato: Lessons from a Policy Brief Experiment - Penelope Beynon, Marie Gaarder, Christelle Chapoy and Edoardo Masset

TECHNOLOGIES

• Radio, ICT Convergence and Knowledge Brokerage: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa - Heather Gilberds and Mary Myers
• Changing the Financial Landscape of Africa: An Unusual Story of Evidence-informed Innovation, Intentional Policy Influence and Private Sector Engagement - Simon Batchelor
• Reframing Digital Storytelling as Co-creative - Lara Worcester
• Digital Storytelling in Bangladesh: Experiences, Challenges and Possibilities - Samia A. Rahim
• Changing Focus: Exploring Images of Women and Empowerment in Egypt - Kristina Hallez
• Real World: Empowering Representations of Women through Film - Tessa Lewin
• Emerging Implications of Open and Linked Data for Knowledge Sharing in Development - Tim Davies and Duncan Edwards"