Historias para el impacto

Our projects are driven by a communities’ desire to influence the services and policies that matter to them and to shape the public narratives and behaviours that affect their lives. 

Nuestro trabajo consiste en crear vías para que las historias de la comunidad y su visión se incorporen a la promoción y la investigación, los medios de comunicación y la comunicación, la prestación y el diseño. 

La experiencia vivida es poderosa y, con demasiada frecuencia, está ausente de nuestras conversaciones locales, nacionales y globales. Si captamos y compartimos nuestras historias y trayectorias, podemos informar y cambiar las actitudes del público, así como dar forma a la toma de decisiones de los servicios e instituciones. 

Pero el seguimiento del impacto de esas historias puede ser un reto. Parte del reto consiste en poder señalar cambios tangibles en las actitudes, las políticas y los servicios. 

It’s notoriously hard to measure shifts in that way that people think – who knows what happens in each person’s mind when they scroll through their social media feeds and pause to read a story, or how the guy reading the Sunday papers over breakfast really feels about the article he reads. Without asking, we don’t know and people don’t like to be polled after every story. 

Occasionally someone will fund a big piece of costly research about public opinion on individual topics and issues and these can be really helpful in helping us to forecast what the impact of stories might be but it can never be an exact science and apart from comments and shares, the community reporters are unlikely to get any direct feedback from the majority of those who interact with their stories. Explaining this to communities is important. They need to feel strong in their decision to tell their story to the world and feel secure about it being out there without much feedback. We always explain that they may never know the impact their stories have on people’s opinions or actions but we can be bold in putting new narratives out there to shake up the stagnant stories and challenge stereotypes. 

Tracking the impact of community stories on policy and services are also hard. Getting access to information on impact from inside service or in situations can be challenging and slow, particularly public and government departments. And big institutions are slow to change. We often get reporters to picture a huge tanker slowly turning around. And that pretty much sums it up. Institutional change takes time and a lot of effort and this can be disheartening and frustrating for participants but each bravely shared story, documented concern, voiced suggestion is contributing to change. Once again, managing expectations is key and reminding them that they are together in a collective effort to turn that tanker around.

Cuando medimos el impacto, nos fijamos en tres niveles - micro, meso y macro – and I’ll explain each one now.. 

En primer lugar, en el nivel micro, we look at the impact on the direct participant engaging in the community reporting and research. These can be private wins, such as speaking in a group for the first time, making new friends and engaging in new interesting networks, or improving their own skills and self-esteem. Many find that their role gives them a new status in their own household and community, which is particularly important for those who have felt excluded or overlooked. For some, their engagement can be transformative. We have seen community reporters go on to become global advocates of some of the world’s most pressing issues, others have used their experiences reporting to win scholarships to study masters’ programmes, and for some the space to speak up and be heard, and tell their truth, has enabled them to work through personal trauma. 

En el nivel meso, we are looking at the impact on the community around the participants – those they represent and that might benefit from the increased visibility from the reporting activities. Reporting can help to document issues that might have otherwise gone unnoticed, help to evidence the need for action and help build pressure on authorities to respond to issues and realities that people might be facing. When firing on all cylinders, community reporter networks can act as incredibly effective accountability mechanisms – they can be helpful to authorities by providing accurate information that might otherwise be hard to collect and can also ensure that communities don’t get overlooked at key decision-making moments..

A nivel macro, we are looking a far broader benefits of the model – at the national, perhaps even global level. Community reporters can trigger significant shifts by being whistleblowers and revealing news of public important. They can act as eye-witness news feeds at the centre of emerging events and crisis. But in a quieter, slower way they can help to chip away at harmful stereotypes, and bring to light invisible harms. That provides enhanced knowledge and evidence to support wider shifts in the way societies think and act, and that in turn will have a direct and positive impact on the communities themselves. 

There are ample opportunities for community reporting and research to have impact at all three levels but you should always be realistic and honest about what your project and your reporters can and might achieve. You will lose trust if you over-commit and plans fail to materialise. Many factors will be out of your control so avoid making promises that may not be in your capacity to deliver on. By shaping your project around investment in individuals you may find the other two levels emerge organically, as they go on to do brilliant things with their new skills and role as a reporter or researcher. However, it’s great to look at the wider potential for impact and be ambitious. As we’ve seen in previous modules, citizen journalism has shaken up the world over the last decade!

El papel más importante de las organizaciones comunitarias en este trabajo es ayudar a salvar la distancia entre las comunidades que quieren hablar y las personas influyentes que necesitan escuchar.

Habrá diferentes audiencias para cada uno de tus proyectos: el gobierno y los responsables políticos, los servicios, el público en general, tus propios grupos comunitarios y sus miembros... Piensa en quién es el público: ¿cómo puedes ayudar a que el conocimiento de la comunidad llegue a ese público para que tenga el mayor impacto posible? 

Las buenas historias pueden y deben inspirar, informar y persuadir (y, cuando sea apropiado, entretener). Pero es importante saber qué es apropiado para cada público. ¿Se dirige a otras personas de las comunidades con las que se trabaja para inspirarlas, ayudarlas a sentirse menos solas o sensibilizarlas? ¿O es un grupo de presión concreto o un sector más amplio al que quiere dirigirse para que tome decisiones mejor informadas? 

No tiene sentido redactar un informe denso de 50 páginas si lo que se pretende es concienciar a los jóvenes de que hay que poner límites a las relaciones abusivas. Simplemente no lo van a leer. Pero si creas un sitio web seguro para que accedan a las historias y las compartan a través de Instagram y Facebook, estarás compartiendo la misma información con un alcance y un potencial de impacto mucho mayor. Del mismo modo, no tiene sentido producir un documental si se trata de abogar por que las mujeres embarazadas acudan a las clínicas prenatales durante todo el embarazo en la zona rural de Sierra Leona. Sin datos ni acceso a dispositivos, esa visión no llega ni de lejos a esa comunidad. Una breve historia de audio enviada a la radio local sería una ruta mucho mejor. 

Piensa en cómo llegar a tu público objetivo allí donde está; ayuda a tus reporteros a pensarlo contigo. ¿Qué formato sería el mejor? ¿Qué longitud y tono? ¿Qué momento es el mejor para enviarlo y compartirlo? Al incluir estas preguntas en su coproducción, puede ayudar a las periodistas a dar forma a sus historias para que tengan impacto.

As well as your role in guiding reporting, you can act as a bridge for your reporter network to be seen and heard. Even the smallest organisations have access to networks that might be inaccessible to individuals in your communities. Local partners, local government, services, funders, professionals and perhaps even local and national media contacts – are all in positions of power to amplify the stories shared by communities. By reaching out to these networks and sharing stories and insight, or even better, weaving them into your project plans.

Contar y compartir una historia puede ser un acto de valentía increíblemente difícil. Salir a captar las historias de los demás también es un reto y exige mucho de alguien: como organizaciones conectadas nos debemos a las comunidades que confían en nosotros para garantizar que sus palabras, soluciones e ideas no desaparezcan en el éter o, peor aún... acaben en la página 100 de un informe que nadie lee. 

El 40 % de las tierras agrícolas de Bangladesh se perderán debido a una subida del nivel del mar de 65 cm para la década de 2080. Unos 20 millones de personas ya están afectadas. En las regiones agrícolas del delta de Bangladesh, los agricultores se enfrentan a increíbles desafíos con el aumento de las inundaciones y los efectos negativos de la salinización del suelo relacionados con la subida del nivel del mar. El impacto de estos cambios combinados en la tierra y la costa sobre la producción de alimentos está lamentablemente poco representado en los medios de comunicación. Muchas personas emigran a las grandes ciudades. Otros han desarrollado innovadoras granjas flotantes inteligentes desde el punto de vista climático: una práctica sostenible en la que los cultivos y las hortalizas se cultivan en plataformas flotantes sin suelo construidas con maleza acuática.

Nos asociamos con una ONG bangladesí para explorar las crecientes preocupaciones nacionales relacionadas con la crisis climática y llevamos estos temas a las comunidades para desenvolverlos a través de una serie de talleres. Esto nos ayudó a conectar con personas que vivían los retos y participaban activamente en soluciones creativas. Sobre la base de los conocimientos compartidos, trabajamos con las comunidades para coproducir una serie de medios de comunicación de inmersión, contada en las palabras de las comunidades que sienten los impactos más duros del cambio climático.

Combinando su experiencia vivida con nuestra capacidad de producción profesional, pudimos ilustrar su narración utilizando vídeos e imágenes de 360 grados, imágenes históricas de satélite de Google Earth e imágenes de drones para capturar florecientes jardines flotantes. 

Si bien la crisis climática está siendo objeto de una narración desesperada, esta serie celebra una solución comunitaria innovadora que aprovecha los recursos y la capacidad de las comunidades para mantener sus medios de vida y contribuir a futuros modelos de agricultura. La BBC ha compartido el vídeo, que ha tenido casi 3 millones de visitas en Facebook y más de 600,000 en YouTube.. 

Now as we’ve already mentioned, these numbers are brilliant but tracking the impact of the stories of those 3mil+ people is completely impossible. What we DO know from a wealth of research is that there is a lack of connection in public minds to the issue of climate change – people don’t see it as urgent, or relevant or view it as a priority. Others deny there is any issue at all or are confused about the facts. A recent report showed that most of the climate narrative had been about plants and animals and overlooked the horrendous impact on humans that is already very real for communities around the world. So in sharing these community stories around climate change we can make an informed assumption that it was helping to humanise the issue and bring people a fresh angle. The focus on the community-led solution was also important as it helps to reframe climate-affected communities as agents of change rather than passive recipients of aid and support. This is challenging stereotypes and every story helps to turn that tanker of public opinion and institutional bias around.

It is also critical that these stories are heard by those with the influence over the climate agenda and, in December 2020, the film was screened to world leaders and activists at the Climate Ambition Summit as an example of what can be achieved through community action. Getting a community story into big summits, meetings and events can be a great way to shift awareness. These short stories often stick in people’s minds well after the slides and statistics have faded away. With the 26th UN Climate Change Conference being held in the UK this year, there is a very significant moment for communities to have their voices heard and ensure that the critical decisions made don’t leave them behind.