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Web Designing

WORKSHOP ON PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

Students of the first semester of the "Communication for Development" course at the Mass Communication department of Tezpur University, Assam, participated in a 5-day workshop focused on creating an understanding of participatory communication processes, the role of a facilitator in participatory processes in community media spaces, giving a practical insight of the same through community media projects.

At the end of the workshop, students worked on the following projects -

  • Accepting all sexual identities (Video Production)

  • Questioning the Girls' Hostel Regulations from a Gender perspective (Video Production)

  • Problems around Menstruation (Audio Production)

  • Mental Health at Tezpur (Audio Production)

the process/modules

DAY 1: UNDERSTANDING PARTICIPATION AND PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION

Using the principles of "Foram Theatre", students were asked to design a solution to a problem statement given to them, incorporating different stakeholders into the play. The play should showcase how they reached the particular solution, who was involved and what was the process like.

The objective of this activity was to make students understand the idea of participation, the difference between a "top-down" and "bottom-up" approach, and the ideas of power and privilege.

DAY 2: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY MEDIA

With the focus on community media, students were introduced to what community media is, its various types, and its history. Through case studies, students were acquainted with how a community media space functions, the challenges and the impact these spaces create.

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Students were asked to brainstorm their own community media project that they could complete in the time-span of the workshop, with the student community of Tezpur as its key stakeholder.

DAY 3 TO 5: HAND-HOLDING, PRODUCTION AND POST PRODUCTION

Divided into four teams, students embarked on their own projects by reaching out to the larger student community of the university and making them a part of the ideation, production, and post-production processes of their project. The workshop ended with a presentation of all the projects in an open-house event.

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