happy to share a demo for folks to click and play and experience:
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Lots of good comments about the need for more convenings and platforms to talk about better, more ethical storytelling.
One additional area for collaboration is that we can all do more to amplify positive messages and impact coming from different organizations.
Everyone communicating about social impact faces a common adversary: pessimism. The research is really clear that people are more motivated to act (to donate, to support a cause) when they think a problem is solvable, when real progress feels attainable.
TechnoServe, like many of the organizations represented here, is focused on combating poverty. While there is obviously much, much more to do, the last 30 years have seen unprecedented progress in the fight against poverty. I don’t think that is necessarily reflected in public perception, however.
We need to do a better job of celebrating the successes of individuals and communities, to show the public that change is possible, that progress is happening.
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Could agree more Nick - harnessing the power of hope…!
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All your insights are so important and deeply useful. Thank you. We will summarise this in the coming days, so please do keep adding your thoughts here.
And then this work is ongoing for us. Please do reach out to us anytime if you want to get involved too.
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On working better together, we truly believe in the power of coalitions, collaborative networks and other forms of partnerships. In doing so, we pool expertise, perspectives and resources; and amplify our messaging to reach broader audiences. Examples: Global Goals Week coalition (www.globalgoalsweek.org) and Unlock the Future coalition (Unlock the Future - Our Future Agenda).
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Great suggestions shared by everyone. One thing I’d just add is that if we rise, we all rise - and people believe in development. If we go down, we all sink - so its crucial that we share and also hold each other accountable in such a gloomy time.
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Yes I love this Alice! One recent discussion we had highlighted the fact that farmers are busy - so radio, podcasts etc are a great way to communicate because it is something they can listen to while they work
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ABinBev’s/Carling Black Label’s Bride Armour campaign with LifeLine to raise awareness of domestic violence was extremely hard-hitting and effective. They paired with a fashion designer Suzaan Heyns to create a wedding dress with a difference, inspired by survivor’s stories. A film was screened at South Africa’s biggest fashion week, with an audio of survivor’s voices, and then the dress toured around South Africa to raise awareness. The video is here - it is quite a hard watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2jRDaLTUS8
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I think the best communication often comes when platforms create space to hear directly from the people who have experience of the social issue.
I love how social media now allows people to directly share their day to day realities - many amazing examples exist, but two that come to mind are:
Bisan Owda, a young filmmaker who has done an incredible job of showing what life is like in Gaza over the last 8 months: https://www.instagram.com/wizard_bisan1?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== , and
Aketch Joy Winnie, a model who has an instagram account about what daily life is like in her village in Uganda 𝗔 𝗞 𝗘 𝗧 𝗖 𝗛 𝗝𝗢𝗬 𝗪 𝗜 𝗡 𝗡 𝗜 𝗘 (@aketchjoywinnie) • Instagram photos and videos
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Recognising power imbalances is so important. Restless Development is an NGO that trains young people to conduct research on social issues and advocate for change. Their methodology empowers and supports young people to conduct research on the questions that matter most to them. Their methodology particularly recognises power imbalances and attempts to counteract them. See their ‘power shifting principles’ here:
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Knowing your audience - there’s some interesting research by ACT Climate Labs on climate communications in the UK, identifying different segments of people, what their main interests are, and how to communicate effectively on climate. One key point from this - start with what people are already interested in (jobs? gardening? their children?), and build from there. Audience Insights: Meet the Persuadables in the UK
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Storytelling approaches can be very effective, to humanise people rather than referring to statistics or numbers. Here’s a report by the Centre for Social Impact Storytelling on creating compelling stories: Stories Worth Telling - Center for Social Impact Communication
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Generally, I think there is a lot more that can be done to decolonise the way that research is carried out and communicated, so that it is conducted with and led by the people who are closest to the issues - it requires examining how power is operating in the research ecosystem, in the process of research, and in research outputs (see Some steps for decolonising international research-for-development partnerships – Debating Development Research).
Linda Tuhiwai Smith has written about this extensively in relation to research and indigenous peoples. There’s an interesting interview with her on decolonising methodologies for sustainability research here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1p8R_XQqqU. A key question for me around this is whose knowledge do we value, and is their a hierarchy in terms of whose knowledge we think is most ‘valid’? Also - who benefits from the knowledge produced in research, and how are intellectual property rights protected?
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