8.5. Social Communication
8.5.2. Communication
Social communication can be used to mobilize community members to participate in co-management. Participatory techniques can be used to raise people’s awareness, knowledge, ability and motivation to make decisions about their future. Common participatory techniques include workshops, public meetings, study tours, community exchange visits, advocacy campaigns, debates, street theatre, committees, community patrols, citizen watchdog groups, school programmes and special projects involving the community or various sectors of society (DENR et al., 2001b).
Social communication should promote internal discussion within different stakeholder groups and organizations. Discussion allows different viewpoints to be aired and discussed, trust and credibility to be created, and group cohesion to be strengthened. This can be accomplished by building on a common focus or issue and holding meetings that foster contact and trust and allow bridges to be built among members.
Social communication should be respectful of local cultural traits and norms. Any information conveyed should be truthful, fair and reasonably complete (Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2000). Social communication should be ongoing throughout the life of the project and beyond.
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Box 8.14. Building Support for Coral Reef Management in Phuket, Thailand.
Phuket, a rapidly growing tourism area in southern Thailand, has a significant coral reef area that provides economic benefits to fishers and tourism. The Phuket Coral Protection Strategy, a project implemented by the University of Rhode Island and the Phuket Marine Biological Center of the Department of Fisheries, had the goals to protect and provide for the sustainable use of the reefs and to build local and national support for coral reef management.
Throughout the year and a half of the issue identification and analysis stage, considerable effort was made to heighten public awareness of coral reefs and to build support for subsequent management initiatives. At the time of the project there was virtually no awareness of coral reefs and their importance to the economy. Early activities, which included media campaigns, community events and the publication of brochures, were designed to enhance both the general public’s and the private sector’s appreciation for the area’s reefs and to explain why a protection strategy was necessary. Support for coral protection was also built through the extensive discussions carried out with reef- dependent businesses and reef users during the process of issue identification.
Source: Hale and Lemay (1994).
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The active participation of people in a community in the co-management programme is at the heart of co-management. Success of co-management is directly related to a well-organized community that has been empowered to take action to manage and conserve its aquatic resources. Community organizing is much more than just establishing organizations, it is a process of empowerment, building awareness, promoting new values and behaviours, establishing self-reliance, building relationships, developing organizations and leadership, and enabling communities to take action (Table 9.1). Thus, as mentioned above, environmental education, capacity development and social communication are central elements of the co-management process.
Community Organizing
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© International Development Research Centre 2006. Fishery Co-management:
A Practical Handbook(R.S. Pomeroy and R. Rivera-Guieb)
J. Parks.
Community organizing looks at collective solutions. It changes the balance of power and creates new power bases. It is a value-based process by which people are brought together in organizations to jointly act in the interest of their ‘communities’ and the common good.
It has been reported that the fundamental source of cohesion of every strong community organization is the conviction that it offers its members a unique vehicle for exercising and developing their capacities as citizens. The empowerment process at the heart of community organizing promotes participation of people, organizations and communities towards the goals of increased individual and community control, political efficacy, improved quality of community life and social justice (Wallerstein, 1992).
To participate in co-management, the stakeholders will need to organize themselves and arrive at an internal consensus on the interests and concerns that they want brought forward. Meetings and discussions are held among the individual stakeholders to identify and clarify their interests and concerns and for those individuals with common interests and concerns to organize themselves into groups. Effective community participation in co-management requires a strong community organization(s) to represent its members (Box 9.1). In some cases, community organizations capable of representing their members in co-management already exist in the community. In other cases, organizations will either need to be strengthened or newly established. One or more community organizations may be needed in the community depending upon its size, diversity and needs. An appropriate person(s) from the organization must be selected to represent them on the larger co-management organization.
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Table 9.1.Community organizing.
Stakeholder Role
Fishers ● Participation in meetings
● Support organization formation
● Assist in developing organization structure
● Support and participate in organization
● Leadership
Fisher leaders/core group ● Participate in meetings
● Assess situation
● Decide on mission of organization
● Canvas community for support
● Support consensus process
● Develop organizational structure Government ● Support organizing efforts
● Provide legal support to organize External agent/CO ● Identify core leaders
● Organize core group
● Support core group in mobilization
● Build alliances and networking
● Seek funding for organization
Fishing cooperatives and fisher associations exist in many communities.
However, these organizations will not automatically be suitable as representative organizations in co-management. It is likely that they were established with objectives that relate more to expanding exploitation, improving marketing and increasing the incomes of members. Changes in outlook will be necessary for these organizations to play major roles in resource management. These changes may be difficult and lengthy, especially if the organization is still struggling with its original mandate. Putting more focus on management may strain the internal cohesion of the organization (McConneyet al., 2003b).
The process of community organizing is seldom ‘tidy’; it doesn’t always happen in neat, predictable steps. Activities may occur simultaneously.
Community organizing involves learning, sharing and adapting. It often involves building upon existing institutions and organizations in the community. Community organizing is led by the CO, but must be a collaborative effort of all the stakeholders in co-management.