Rethink Social Change

From the sunny shores of Tunisia, with choppy internet connection, barking dogs and all, I was joined by Jihed Haj Salem a social scientist and researcher extraordinaire. His focus areas are social inclusion, conflict mitigation and countering violent extremism in Tunisia and the larger MENA region. As an applied social researcher, he helps social change organizations assess the landscape in which they work and monitor the context to better tailor responses and genuinely improve the lives of people they serve. 

The cards drawn to guide us were an invitation to discuss Social Context, Aid Actors and Policy Change and the bonus card couldn’t have been more appropriate for our conversation: Inclusion! This was a real talk about what hinders genuine participation in civic engagement processes at local level, understanding the dynamics and disconnect between central and local levels for advancing participation, the limitations of large projects to bring about measurable change as larger projects are less agile to really adapt both to changing situation and to respond to needs. We closed our conversation on how words matter, on the challenge of translating “euro-centric” concepts locally and to consider the implication of the meaning of those words.  

Some key takeaways from our conversation: 

·        Take the time to prepare participatory process, the more so given the multiplicity of actors, interests, and variables at play. 

·        The importance to build on regional similarities and common ground. 

·        Language is important, so clarifying wording in this field when translating concepts is paramount. 

·        Be more realistic on objectives and the change that the processes you put in place will bring about. Less big projects, more sustained smaller projects. 

Hope you’ll enjoy this episode. As always in conversations with Jihed, I came out with even more questions about how to make social change endeavors be more efficient despite the structural limitations of the system. So, if you work on similar issues, would love to hear your thoughts, comments and to pursue this conversation a little longer.  

You can reach Jihed Haj Salem on LinkedIn for more on the socio-political context in Tunisia and neighboring countries. 

Finally, if you work on social change, in whaterver sector, and are up for the challenge, message me on LinkedIn or any of the social media platforms, through the unique handle @rethinksocialchange and we’ll organize a conversation! 

In this first episode of the Rethink Social Change podcast I am joined by Soledad Muniz who is Director of Programs at InsightShare. A UK-based organisation, InsightShare empowers people by giving them and training them to use video cameras as tools for transformative change. With over two decades of experience, Soledad has spearheaded over 30 projects across the world addressing critical issues such as the environment, indigenous rights, gender equality, and youth advocacy. I worked with her on the UNICEF Education and Peacebuilding Project in West & Central Africa, where we used participatory video and most significant change to evaluate some of the outcomes of the project. She's one of the world's experts who merges community empowerment, research, and evaluation. 

The cards drawn to guide this episode include a Context card, a Stakeholder card and a Resource card which respectively generated the following word prompts: Geographic, Field Offices and Time. With these three words, Soledad dove right in speaking on how they engage local staff and communities in reflection through the use of participatory media, about how timeframes affect what they do and the various milestones a project may have. She harnessed her extensive geographic experience, from Sierra Leone, to Nepal, via Rohinga territory, as she shared ideas on collaborative facilitation and specific context complexities. Although she specializes on M&EL, Soledad also discussed how participatory video is used for programming, as well as how M&EL can be embedded in that programming process; but also how results of such processes are used. The trump or bonus card, that I drew but showed her only well into the conversation, was a Qualify card. It invited her to elaborate on “Champions". Who they are or could be, what purpose they serve and how they are involved. She closed our talk by candidly sharing examples of when participatory video doesn’t work. 

Some key takeaways from this first episode:

o   Participation must be designed and it’s worth investing in it early on to build the foundational trust needed for genuine participatory processes.

o   The importance of anchoring initiative in the existing context and systems by identifying champions and harnessing them. And be open to who those champions can be.

o   The adaptability of such participatory approaches to contexts and their versatility in use which opens opportunities for replication and sustainability of action.

I came out of this conversation energized and more fascinated by the power of combining video cameras with participation to help shift awareness and unleash energy for positive individual and collective change. Hope you enjoy this first episode as much as I did. If you care, please leave a message, a comment, or a thought and if you want to hear more, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on whichever platform you prefer or on Youtube for the unabridged version.

You can reach Soledad Muñiz on LinkedIn and if you’d like to learn more about the great work InsightShare does, their website has plenty of information, guides  and case studies https://insightshare.org  

Finally, if you work on social change, in whaterver sector, and are up for the challenge, message me on LinkedIn or any of the social media platforms, through the unique handle @rethinksocialchange and we’ll organize a conversation!