KO Presentation at International Conference in Guelph well received
KO staff discussed the use of ICTs at the "Celebrating Communications for Social and Environmental Change" a conference hosted by the Snowden Program in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph and was coordinated by Helen Hambly.
Cal Kenny, K-Net Graphic Artist and Website Design and Brian Walmark, KO Research Coordinator, joined George Ferreira, PhD Candidate and Ricardo Ramirez, SEDRD at University of Guelph on a panel entitled "K-NET: Experience in Participatory Video in Northern Ontario" (Chaired by Helen Aitken of TDG). Click here to see more pictures.
Cal Kenny shared his latest video with conference participants during one of the workshop sessions. His work was well recieved and he shared a copy of the video with Stephanie Barker, the head of outreach at the National Film Board.
The goal of "Celebrating Communications" was to strengthen communications for social and environmental change, both as a field of development practice and academic research. The Symposium achieved all of its goals. Participants from around the world including community activists in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
While connectivity and ICTs have had a major impact on KO and other First Nation communities across the NAN territory, the Internet has been much less successful as a communications tool in Latin America and Africa. The availability of electricity, the costs of connectivity, and the failure of many e-centres to truly reflect local needs and aspirations, limits the effectiveness of ICTs at the community level. Many e-centres in Latin America simply closed after funding ran out. Local people in many cases felt little if any ownership of these e-centres. These concerns were reflected by Alfonso Gumucio Dagron, the Executive Director of Communications for Social Change Consortium in the key note address. Dagron emphasized that process not the medium is critical if local communities are to develop a strong sense of ownership. "Access to media is not the same as community ownership," he said. Community radio in Latin America, he said, has been very successful in addressing local concerns for the past twenty-five years. He said sustainability is critical if community radio is to survive the impacts of globalization. He argued that economic sustainability is only one factor that must be considered. Institutional and social sustainability are also critical elements if a media, community radio or ICTs survives are to give a voice to those increasingly muted by globalization.
Carl Greenidge, the Director of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, agreed that connectivity and ICTs are expensive especially in Africa but he cautioned that no media should be considered a panacea. "No matter which medium you select, some group will be excluded. It is important to select carefully and adopt a process that encourages the community to take ownership of it," he told the Symposium participants.
All agreed that media empowerment is a profound tool of development and social change. Stephanie Barker, the Head of Outreach at the National Film Board, outlined the impact that documentary films have had on the Canadian public policy such as "The Things I Cannot Change," the "Fogo Island Project," and "Ecole des Autres." She emphasized that the Challenge for Change program changed the way documentary filming takes place in Canada. "Participatory video allows communities to take on challenges and find solutions that ultimately change attitudes and social change," she said.