Document(s) 5 of 8

Using communication tools
with a participatory approach

Introduction

In the previous section of this guide, we discussed the identification of communication tools in relation to three sets of criteria:

• communication tools already in use in the local community,
• costs, time and technical conditions of use, and
• various kinds of utilization.

We stressed that we are not using media with a view to disseminate information and knowledge from a resource person (researcher or expert) to community members, but to facilitate the realization of the set of actions a community decides to implement, in order to act on a given development problem.

Where there is some learning to do, we are reminded that the use of communication tools should go hand in hand with what we have learned from adult education: we should always start from the experiences of people and build an active learning experience.

In this third part of the guide, we will first present some user's notes on examples of communication tools that are often used in the context of communicating with local communities, with a participatory approach. Of course, this list is by no way exhaustive. But we will see that we will find the same elements again and again, independently of the tool itself and that they can be applied to other communication tools as well.

In a second section, we will consider usages related to different kinds of utilization (the third criterion of selection).

Types of communication tools in PDC

Generally, we distinguish between mass media (newspapers, radio, television), traditional media (storytelling, theatres, songs), "group" media (video, photographs, posters) and community media such as short-range rural radio broadcasting. The media, and the different forms of interpersonal communication, are our communication tools. The following describes some of the tools and techniques you may wish to use in your communication strategy. It may be useful to remember that often the use of more than one approach, tool or medium can strengthen your approach so these should not be viewed in isolation or as independent of one another.

Interpersonal communication tools

DISCUSSION AND DEBATE

Group discussion and debate are widely used. They are so common that we seldom think of them as communication tools. But if we do, we can greatly enhance their utilization. As communication tools, they should support a given activity (in this case, generally a community meeting), in order to reach a specific objective. Usually, the objective will consist of raising an issue publicly, stimulating awareness and preparing for other activities.

From large debates to small groups discussions: the effectiveness of large group discussions and debates resides in their complementarity with other activities, such as discussions with smaller and more focused groups.

A large group discussion is not always the best tool though to facilitate participation. Often, only certain categories of people will talk, offer their arguments or ask questions. In many settings, young people or women will not talk in front of the older men. And of course, many topics cannot be discussed openly in public.

The effectiveness of discussion and debate resides in its complementarity with other activities, for example discussions with smaller and more focused groups.

VISIONING SESSIONS

The same applies to visioning sessions of a film or video. Usually, these sessions are organized during a public meeting where resource persons talk about a given issue, and where, after the projection, a discussion is organized. This tool is very effective in raising awareness on a specific issue, or to introduce knowledge or behavior elements, but as a single activity, it has little potential to stimulate participation to work out some solutions.

Again, the effectiveness of the tool is linked with the organization of other activities, again with smaller and more focused groups.

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS

A focus group discussion is held with a small number of people (7–10) who share similar characteristics. The information obtained through this technique is considered valid for other community members who demonstrate those characteristics.

The discussion evolves along the lines of a discussion guide, prepared before hand, but the questions are open-ended. The idea is to enable every participant to express his/her opinions on a given topic.

In many cases, a focus group discussion can also evolve in a strategy-developing activity, with each participant contributing not only to the identification of a problem, causes or solutions, but also in a strategy which could facilitate community participation to the resolution of that problem and the experimentation of the potential solutions.

PRA TECHNIQUES

Participatory rural appraisal techniques are well documented and used in the field. The exercises can include the use of different techniques like collective mapping of the local area, developing a time line, ranking the importance of problems inside a matrix, wealth ranking, doing observation walks, using Venn diagrams, producing seasonability diagrams, etc.

As communication tools, they give us a lot of of information in a limited time span about the characterization of natural resources in a given area and basic social, economic and political information, in order to plan a development or research project. As such, they are powerful tools for facilitating the participation of community members. But as mentioned earlier, they can also be used restrictively, when the different techniques are not fully in the hands of the participants and remain techniques used by the research team only to gather information for their own purposes.

The main idea in using PRA is to collect information quickly with the participation of community members and to share it so that everyone becomes empowered by that information and can participate better in the analysis and decision-making processes. When this does not happen, and when researchers or development practitioners go back with the information without nurturing this empowerment process, the technique is not applied as it should. In fact, such a process can be detrimental because researchers and practitioners then think that they are doing participatory work, when, in fact community members are only "being participated".

ROLE-PLAYING

Role-playing can be a very interesting way to facilitate participation in a small group, identify attitudes and collect views and perceptions. In a role-play, two to five people take a specific identity and play the interaction between the characters. It is interesting when the situation asks for one character to make a case before the other ones or try to influence them.

As an example, one character could take the role of a researcher coming to the community, and another would play a community member. Each would simulate a situation in which the researcher engages in a dialogue with the community member to identify her communication needs regarding a specific natural resource management initiative.

After the play, a discussion follows. Each participant explains what happens in her group and how she felt in the guise of her character interacting with the other character. The facilitator underlines the main ideas related to the topic of discussion and links the exercise with the topic of discussion. Afterward, the participants and the facilitator evaluate if they reached the objective of the activity.

VISITS, TOURS, WORKSHOPS AND EXHIBITIONS

Home visits are an excellent way to raise awareness on a given topic and to collect the views of people on a given problem. Often, people who will not speak openly in a community meeting, or who will not participate in it, will be more at ease to share views and information in the context of their home or their field.

In the context of rural poor, it is often more effective when contact farmers instead of the research team itself make the visits, or when contact farmers accompany the research team.

Tours and visits by farmers to other farmers are useful to demonstrate some solutions, which have been used in other settings, and also to raise the motivation to try them out and experiment with them. But to be more effective, they should be prepared by the farmers who are going to visit, after many discussions on the problems they face and the solutions they could implement, instead of having farmers participate in a tour by itself.

The organization of a workshop on a given topic is useful to present and discuss specific technologies, which can support solutions to a given problem, or to assemble similarly minded people in order to develop a common strategy. It is however often more effective regrouping resource persons and collaborators from the community than community members themselves. Farmers often will not feel at ease in the context of a workshop given in the city, and the poorest and more marginalized people certainly will not come. So attention must be paid to the issue of who is at ease with the formula and who is not.

Using pictures to illustrate stories: pictures or photographs can also be utilized by participating groups to identity problematic situations, tell stories, support discussion on problems and solutions.

Finally, on-farm exhibitions and on-farm experimental plots, are more effective than exhibitions or plots at an experimental station. They are however are more difficult to organize, except if contact farmers and participating resource organizations identify them as a workable strategy and help in their realization.

"Group" media tools

PHOTOGRAPHY, DRAWINGS, FLIP CHARTS

When considering using photography (or drawings), we usually think of taking pictures to illustrate what we want to discuss with other people, and use them during a visioning session, or as cards or posters. It is in fact a very flexible and supportive tool. But there are also other ways to use this tool.

One utilization consists of producing what people in West Africa have called boîte à image (flip chart). It is a succession of photographs or drawings that tell a story with three to ten pictures, and without any text. The images illustrate problem situations, and situations where the problem is resolved. It is used with the facilitator asking people what they see in the images. This tool is very effective in stimulating discussion, comparing points of view and developing consensus on a given issue.

The images can be drawn, printed or glued on paper or cloth.

The same process can be used by making a game of cards from those photographs or drawings and distributing the cards from one person to another, each trying to identify the image and commenting on the situation.

Another interesting utilization consists in giving disposable photo cameras to people in the field, asking them to photograph problematic situations they have to cope with or solutions they would like to see adopted and multiplied. An exhibition is made and discussions are conducted to identify strategies for action.

Similarly, photographs can be used with a discussion where people put forth their points of view with the help of what they illustrated, or to present a "before" and an "after" situation.

They are also powerful tools in the context of home visits, where they can be used to ask people what they see in the pictures and how they feel about the situation.

POSTERS AND BANNERS

Posters and banners are often used to raise awareness on a topic. As such they are not very effective in facilitating participation. It is important to combine them with interactive activities with community members. At that point they can be used as the flip chart process, instead of being just glued on a specific spot.

This being said, sometimes the realization of posters or of banners by community members can become a rich communication activity. For example, it can be quite effective with children, in order to raise awareness on a specific issue, or with farmers, in order to illustrate a given technology. In the latter, a resource person will work with the research team and community members to develop the poster along the guidelines of community members. The discussion along this activity is often very rich and productive.

VIDEO RECORDINGS

Today, digital video cameras make the use of video simple. They come with batteries that can last up to 7 or 8 hours, and can fit in a small backpack. They also have a screen that can be used not only to capture but also to show immediately the images to a small group of people. They are very easy to learn to operate and handle and make a good tool that community members can use by themselves.

As in the case of photography, video is usually used to illustrate a given problem or to demonstrate a given solution, by way of a program put together by the research team or produced elsewhere.

In cases where the document is produced by the research team, it is always more effective when it is done in a participatory way, including community members, in the planning, scenario development and realization.

Video is also more effective when it positions a problem and documents the causes without suggesting solutions. Those are to come from participants viewing the documentary.

As in the example of disposable cameras, it can also be a tool put in the hands of community members for them to show an aspect of a problem or solution, or record a "video letter".

A powerful utilization of video is what is known as the "Fogo Process" (the name comes from a Canadian island where it was first used). In this process, video is used to introduce an issue and is followed by a community discussion. The discussion is captured and shown to the community afterward where it triggers other discussions to bring forth a consensus for action.

In some contexts, the discussion of the issue by a community can also be shown to other communities, where the discussion is also recorded, etc.

AUDIO RECORDINGS

Audio recording can be used to capture the views of community members and stir a discussion afterward on these views. The recording can be played on tape recorders in the context of a community meeting or small group discussions, but it can also be broadcast on the radio when such collaboration has been achieved.

Audio recordings of songs and dances and the use of small audio players can also be effective tools for community members working with the research team to reach other members of their communities.

Audiocassette forums have also been used with some success. In this approach, tape recorders and cassettes are given to specific community groups, who decide on their content and discuss the problems and potential solutions to implement.

"Traditional" media tools

THEATRE

The same considerations can be said of using theatre or other traditional media: it must be complementary to a process involving a set of interactive activities. Usually, theatre is used to raise awareness on a given issue. A play will often attract a large number of people in the rural areas, but will not do much by itself to accompany a community initiative to resolve a given problem. It must be part of a global strategy and like other communication tools, contribute to the identification of a given development problem and a concrete initiative set up by the community.

Women playing men's roles: in this photograph, women farmers are presenting a theatre-debate on the issue of soil fertility. In such a setting, they can act out men's roles and attitudes and bring forward social issues related to a problem and its solutions, which they are unable to do in a formal community meeting.

Theatre debate (where a debate with the audience follows the play) and theatre forum (where some parts of the play are played again by audience members, usually to try to convince a character of the play to change her behavior) are powerful techniques used to address critical issues. But again, they must be linked to a longer-term initiative in order to accompany a development initiative in the community.

Another strategy is to have specific community groups participate in the writing and production of the play. When the play addresses specific problems and demonstrates useful solutions, the message is much more convincing when the actors are people from the community.

Traditional media as powerful communication tools: researchers and practitioners should identify the traditional media existing in a given community and give them preference in their choice of communication tools, not only to address the community, but to enable community groups to express their views and opinions.

SONGS, MUSIC, SAYINGS, STORIES

Songs and music are powerful tools, whether they are used to create an ambience or produced in a way to deliver a message, they can greatly facilitate a process of sharing points of view and contribute to awareness raising. Again, they are only tools.

Sayings and proverbs have also been used in order to facilitate discussion on a given topic. Stories, especially hiatus stories, which have to be filled in the middle or completed at the end also can create an ambience, raise awareness and facilitate group discussions.

"Mass" media tools

RURAL RADIO

As everyone recognizes, rural radio is an especially appropriate tool for reaching large groups, or groups beyond the immediate vicinity. Many producers working with rural radio are aware of participatory communication and will steer clear of the conventional "journalistic" approach. For example, they will attempt to include discussion panels in their broadcasting, and will do their best to make local voices heard.

There are two important provisos, however, for using radio successfully: first, it is important to enlist a producer (or the broadcast authorities) in the initiative and work with her in planning the entire communication process. This means an ongoing cooperative relationship, and not just occasional requests for help. Maintaining such a relationship is not always easy and requires constant attention.

Secondly, it will be necessary to put together the funding needed to produce the spots or broadcasts (local FM stations often charge less than others), or to seek an exemption from the ministry or agency responsible. For these reasons, radio is not used as widely as it could by communicators working with participatory approaches involving specific community groups.

The use of rural radio should also be combined with field work to ensure that communication flows in both directions: in this case, radio can either follow and support a communication initiative being undertaken at the same time, or it can be made an integral part of that initiative as a means for allowing people to express themselves.

LOCAL PRESS

Local press is of course not an interactive medium. But it can greatly assist the efforts of a participatory development initiative, by informing the community or targeted decision makers on the evolution of the initiative. Again, collaboration with a journalist at the beginning of the initiative may develop into a partnership, while occasionally requesting the participation of a journalist may be considered a demand of services.

TELEVISION

Television is not used the way it could mostly because of the costs involved. In some countries where it is well-developed, community television can host debates and interventions, giving them the reach that working with small specific groups cannot have. But this is seldom the case.

In other countries, there is sometimes the possibility to connect with the producer of development programs and use television to illustrate the realization of a given community initiative, thus influencing other communities to embark on such a venture. But again, this is not very common.

There is a lot of potential though to use television in a participatory way by relying on community television viewing and discussion clubs. Experiences in India and Africa have been quite successful in using that tool. But again, costs have made it unsustainable.

"Information and communication technologies" tools

THE COMPUTER AS A SLIDE SHOW PROJECTOR

Portable computers now also come with batteries that can be self-sufficient for many hours. They also fit easily in a carry-all bag. With software like PowerPoint or others, it is easy to store photographs, maps, video sequences, etc. and show them to specific groups in the field or in poor communities where there is no access to electricity. Photographs taken by the community members can also be scanned and integrated into such presentations. Likewise, comparing satellite maps with community maps, or viewing the data on the availability of water, and comparing with indigenous knowledge on the issue, etc. can be powerful activities.

USING THE INTERNET

The Internet, especially through the use of e-mail, can link together different community initiatives. This type of communication can motivate the actors in the development initiative, and enable them to get support or relevant information or to exchange ideas.

In some cases, it is feasible to produce a web page for an initiative. Again, for the actors involved in the development initiative, it contributes to breaking the sense of isolation and nurtures the motivation to act, knowing that progress on what they are doing can be known around the world. Again, this information can also be used in the context of a similar development initiative carried out elsewhere, to show what other people have been doing in a similar context.

Different media for different uses: these women are involved in community-based management of a forest. They use songs to explain and share what they are doing and why.

Identifying communication tools for different kinds of applications.

This second section discusses the identification of appropriate tools for different usages.

For our purposes, we will consider the following usages:

1. Triggering the process of participatory communication.
2. Supporting and moderating discussion groups.
3. Extending group discussion sessions.
4. Reaching other groups or participants beyond the immediate locale.
5. Supporting learning and the exchange of knowledge.
6. Helping participants communicate with each other or with a specific group.
7. Evaluating and keeping a record of activities.

Again, this list is of course not exhaustive. The main idea is that we have to identify the use we want to make of a communication tool in a given communication activity.

Triggering the process of participatory communication

The first stage in the approach to participatory development communication consists of helping to identify a problem, its causes, and deciding on actions to take to resolve it.

In this context, photography and video recordings can be very useful in helping to identify a problem. For example, in one initiative dealing with the environment, communicators first took and developed photographs of polluted sites. They then went back to the village, showed these photographs around, and asked people what they saw in them and what they thought about them. The reactions obtained served as the basis for a subsequent discussion of the problem.

Different media for different uses: these women are preparing to video tape a discussion on the progress of their development initiative. This video recording will be shown to other groups in the community to trigger similar actions.

Part of the interest in using photography and video is that the equipment for producing them is affordable and easy to handle. Communicators can use these devices themselves without having to rely on help from others (audiovisual or radio specialists, theatre troupes, etc.) and participants too can easily learn to use them.

In another case, communicators distributed cameras to participants, showed them how to use them, and asked them to take pictures of problems relating to natural resource management. The photos they took were then used to conduct an in-depth discussion of those problems and of ways to resolve them.

Theatre can also be an excellent triggering tool, especially when it is combined with interactive participation by the audience (either by having individuals in the audience take the floor, or having people organize a skit themselves and present it on stage). Portraying problem situations on stage makes it possible to address sensitive issues and encourage people to express their reactions. There are amateur theatre troupes in many places, and they can often be enlisted in the process of participatory communication. Then there are comedians and professional stage directors who can come and teach participants to stage their own plays and act out the different problem situations facing them.

In some settings, much use is made of songs and sayings. Here, a griot, a musician or a storyteller, traditional communicators par excel lence, can be very effective partners in the communication process. Songs can be composed for the occasion dealing with the specific topic of discussion. Or someone can be asked to tell the story of a problem that people have experienced. Some may use popular sayings or proverbs to introduce the issue. In all cases, care is required in preparing the songs, stories or sayings to be used, and tying them in with the participatory process. This approach can also be combined with audiocassette recordings, which can then be replayed in places frequented by participant groups.

Visioning sessions, involving a film or a video, can also help to pose a problem and initiate discussion on it. This requires careful preparation with the participants, so that the session does more than just convey a message, instead, it sparks real debate. Before showing the film or the video, it is important to make clear what it is about and to explain the rationale for the visioning session and the discussion that will follow.

Many NGOs, associations, local technical services, clinics and schools have films or videos dealing with various development problems. With a little local research, it should be possible to unearth materials that will serve as good triggers for discussion. The objective here is to find, not the one that provides the best coverage of the problem, but one that will help to pose the issue and evoke discussion and exchanges of view.

Similarly, it is wise to prepare a short exposé or arrange for a presentation by a resource person who could pave the way for discussion, in case the power fails or the movie projector breaks down.

A panel forum, perhaps accompanied by a presentation by a resource person, can also be useful for kicking off the process. It is important at this point to make sure that everyone has a chance to speak, and to create an atmosphere that encourages discussion, otherwise the session may turn into a question-and-answer ritual that will frustrate the attempt at participatory communication for dealing with the problem at hand.

These forums can be held in specially arranged premises, but they can also take place in spots often visited by participant groups (the marketplace, the village square, a local bar).

Discussion groups, consisting of 10 people at most, are an appropriate way of preparing a panel forum or more formal meetings with participant groups. These sessions are organized around an interview guide that the communicator has prepared in advance. Her questions are addressed to each participant in turn, and attempt to elicit information that may be useful later. The discussion group is a very practical communication tool for identifying a priority problem in the community, and its causes. It makes it possible to gather information on what participants think, and it helps in preparing a panel forum in the light of that information.

Supporting and facilitating discussion groups

Video or audio recordings of individual participants' points of view or of a group discussion may help lend depth to the debate, by allowing participants to react to what each other has said, or to go further into what they said themselves.

While video recording is more popular, audio taping with a cassette is often simpler to handle. As with radio, audio recording allows us to record and afterwards listen to discussion sessions, to share points of view and experience, and to provide useful information for subsequent discussion.

Video or audio recording of a discussion also allows the group to benefit from the viewpoints of people who can help to identify the causes of the development problem at hand (an expert on the locality or the issue), but who cannot be present at the meeting.

Videotapes can also be used to show and contrast good and bad practices, with respect to the problem identified (land use, for example), and these examples can be used to stimulate discussion and lead to decisions on concrete actions.

A video or audio recording, photographs or even posters can also be used to show examples or illustrate ideas during discussions with the participants.

An image box (flip chart) can be used to illustrate different aspects of a problem situation, and of its possible solutions, in order to spark discussion. Everything depends, however, on how it is used: the point is to show each image and ask the participants to talk about it, and then to react to each other's viewpoints.

If a theatre troupe is prepared to cooperate, we can also use theatre to illustrate different aspects of the problem or different reactions and attitudes to it, and thereby encourage thought and discussion. Here again, this may involve having a troupe perform and provoke debate with the participants, or the participants may present a skit by themselves.

Discussion groups, panel forums and visioning sessions can also be used at this stage to analyze the causes of a problem more deeply, or to decide on a solution to be implemented and tested.

Rural radio broadcasting, which leaves great room for the participants to express their points of view, can stimulate local discussion as well. It can also help to clarify the causes of a problem identified during the discussion, by bringing in resource persons and linking several elements at once. If the broadcast is recorded on a cassette, it can be used subsequently during panel forums.

Extending group discussion sessions

It can also be very useful to prolong a group session. A poster, an illustrated folder or photographs can be sent to participants after a session so that at a later time they can review or revise the information or the opinions exchanged. The participants can also use these tools to discuss the issues further with other people among their acquaintances.

These tools can be prepared separately and sent to the participants, or the participants themselves can produce them. In this case, it is important to make sure that materials (sheets of paper, pencils etc.) are available during the group discussion session for preparing these tools.

A rural radio broadcast or an article in the local paper can also be useful at this point. Here again, as is the case wherever the mass media are used, they must be incorporated into the group's work, and not simply used to convey information in one direction.

Following a discussion session, visits can be organized so that the participants can appreciate and compare initiatives undertaken by other groups, in terms of implementing an activity.

Reaching other groups or participants beyond the immediate locale

An audio or video recording of discussions with participant groups can also be used to reach out to other groups we might wish to interest in the process of participatory communication. They can also help sensitize authorities or resource persons that participants may want to enlist in the initiative supported by the communication process.

Yet again, the communicator may wish to convey the viewpoints of the participants in her own locale to the participants living in other places, in order to facilitate their participation. At this point, it is important to enlist the cooperation of a resource person to gather viewpoints and elicit discussions.

The use of rural radio should be combined with field work to ensure that communication flows in both directions: in this case, radio can either follow and support a communication initiative being undertaken at the same time, or it can be made an integral part of that initiative as a means to allow people to express themselves.

Where circumstances so permit, theatre can also fill this function. As with radio, it is important to arrange financing for the most important items (transportation, accommodation, meals etc.), and this can often pose a problem, particularly where what is involved is not a single performance but a prolonged series of presentations.

If participants want to make city dwellers or central authorities aware of the reality of rural life, we may think of using television (but more often than that, there are important costs involved). Similarly, the Internet could be useful if participants want to reach certain groups beyond the local setting, provided they are "connected". This is particularly true for NGOs, international organizations and bilateral cooperation programs, which could be approached to seek support for a development initiative. Again, in both cases, we must think of an adequate strategy to facilitate interactivity and two-way communication, and not just the dissemination of information.

Supporting learning and the exchange of knowledge

It is useful to arrange for a poster, a video or an audiotape to be accompanied by an illustrated folder or a printed text (which can be as short as one page) when we want to help participants acquire new knowledge and skills in the course of communication. This may involve learning traditional dances or songs (relating to natural resource management issues), as much as learning a new market-gardening technique or ways of managing a specific resource.

The combination of text or poster with a video or audio recording is important because the text serves to complete the image or the message: for example, it can provide guidelines for discussion, or pose questions to test comprehension, so that better use can be made of the audio or video product, or it may summarize the essential information contained in the recording. Even if most of the group is illiterate, there will generally be at least one person who can read to the others. It is important, however, to take the language factor into account when producing audio, video or printed materials.

In addition to documentation of the explanatory or demonstrative type, video recordings also make it easier to exchange knowledge between different groups of participants, such as from one village to another, by showing concrete examples and sparking discussion about the use of specific knowledge or techniques.

When conditions allow, a series of special broadcasts over rural radio, in cooperation with listeners' clubs, can be particularly useful in helping spread and exchange knowledge. When it comes to practical skills, on-the-spot demonstrations are also a good idea.

Where possible, visits to groups or individuals using this knowledge and putting it into practice can be very useful. People tend to remember best what they have seen with their own eyes. Moreover, as it generally happens during such visits, participants will ask the questions themselves, and this requires advance preparation that can often be very effective as a learning support. This requires organization and resources that are, however, not always available to everyone.

Helping participants communicate with each other or with a specific group

What are the most useful appropriate communication tools for helping the participants in the communication process to express their points of view? What tools will they feel most comfortable with, and which are best suited to the groups they are trying to reach? Which media can be used most readily and economically? The answers depend on what we are trying to achieve.

We may wish to reach other groups of participants and make them aware of the viewpoints exchanged during a discussion session. Or we may help the participants make their viewpoints known to a specific group, the local or national authorities for example, in order to sensitize them to local conditions and needs.

We may use simple tools such as video or audio recordings, or we may turn to the mass media, if funding is available to cover costs. In addition to enlisting the cooperation of the producer, participant groups can also be trained to produce their own broadcasts. The use of photographs and images can also help participants in expressing their view points. Games and group exercises are also particularly helpful in "breaking the ice" and facilitating interactions between participants.

Evaluating and keeping a record of activities

We can also use photographs, audio and video tapes to record a problem situation as it exists at the beginning of the communication process, and then compare these records with the situation at the end of the initiative. This will help us evaluate what has been accomplished.

Photos, video or tape recordings of sessions, or the simple recording of notes on a tape recorder, can also be used to document the initiative. It is important to think of this at the outset and to have a plan in mind, so that we do not find ourselves with countless hours of tape recordings or hundreds of photographs. We may want to label those recorded portions that we want to keep for documentation purposes or for building a photo album, by entering the activity and the time of production on each one.

Finally, in some cases, communicators have been able to interest journalists from the local press in covering their activities. Such articles, besides sensitizing public opinion to the initiative, have been found useful for documenting and publicizing an initiative beyond the limited group of participants. Once again, the list of tools offered here, as well as the guidelines for using them, is by no means exhaustive. Each of the teams will want to supplement the list by drawing upon examples given above to select the most appropriate communication tools.

Document(s) 5 of 8