… time for Action to end Violence against Women!!! 

25 singers and musicians recording in over 20 countries are behind “We are one Woman” – UN Women’s theme song – a first in the UN system. Launching International Women’s Day, this year ‘We are one woman’ focuses on solidarity and aims to inspire listeners to join the drive for women’s rights and gender equality.

We are one Woman!

This year, International Women’s Day focuses on ending violence against women — a gross human rights violation that affects up to 7 in 10 women and a top priority for UN Women.

As commemorations are underway in all corners of the globe, “One Woman” reminds us that together, we can overcome violence and discrimination: “We Shall Shine!” Join us to help spread the word and enjoy this musical celebration of women worldwide.

Igniting the fire in India – & beyond   I was in India last year on December 16, when the young woman in Delhi was gang-raped, destroyed, beaten and along with her friend thrown naked off a bus – the site of the ordeal – for dead. This deed, performed so many times before, this time, finally, managed to stir huge crowds, and the world responded. India was electrified: Never Again! was the strong and eternally repeated and all-encom- passing sentiment of the wave of rage, rolling.

One billlion rising – dancing!

Rallying around ‘One Billion Rising’ and February 14 as world V-Day events were held in 207 countries from a debate in UK Parliament to a human chain in Bangladesh, dancing in Kabul and Tripoli to rallies in Steubenville and many, many other events in many, many more places.

‘Break the Chain’ became the song of the 2013 campaign: Strike, Dance. Rise with the below music video: Break the chain!

Read more about March 8 Women and Media events in the latest newsletter here!

In ZIMBABWE:
Owning Radio Sets is considered criminal offence

While radio plays a very important role in many societies, not least in a country like Zimbabwe, the police has declared war on short wave radio, on solar powered and wind up radios, i.e. on radios that can provide other voices and information and news than that of the government mouth-piece radio stations.

In many African countries Zimbabwe included, radio is the most important medium communities rely on to keep informed about news, and events. Low literacy levels and poor circulation make dependence on newspapers negligible.The cost of a television set is beyond the reach of many as many people leave on less than a US$1 a day.

Poor infrastructure is also another reason why people depend on radios because in most rural areas there is no electricity and the cost of purchasing a television is prohibitive to many in this region. Internet use, although rising in some countries because of an increase in the number of Internet cafes in many major cities among others, is still nominal in Zimbabwe. Read more of he Radio Dialogue (Bulawayo) story here.

Kinshasa FM – (radio) journalist in DRC

A rare portrait of two quite different journalists in Congo: a ‘soldier radio journalist’, the producer calls him, and a brave and open-minded journalists from the written press. Welcome into some of the corners of their professional world with challenges, dreams and goals!

Radio is still in many communities and for millions of people, the only source of information from the outside world: a receiver, not expensive to purchase, easy to carry anywhere, information comes to you in a familiar way: it speaks to you, and it can do it in your special dialect or accent, no need to be able to read or write… a familiar, often very trusted link to the world.

Since the first broadcast over 100 years ago, radio has proved to be a powerful information source not only for information, but also for mobilising social change and a focal point for community life. In recognition, UNESCO have announced the 13th February as World Radio Day

World Radio Day was declared by UNESCO during its international conference in 2011 and celebrated for the first time globally in 2012, including by EMPOWERHOUSE and partners on February 13, 2012.

Make sure your celebration is registered on our common WRD map!!!

For this year UNESCO keeps a map updated with all celebrations reported  world-wide. We hope this map becomes full of arrows in the lead up to Feb. 13!

UNESCO among others says about the plans for 2013:

“UNESCO encourages all countries to celebrate World Radio Day by planning activities in partnership with regional, national and international broadcasters, governmental and non-governmental organizations, the media and the public…”                        World, Let’s celebrate!

On the UNESCO site you will find a wealth of resources that you can use free of charge and without copyright restriction to help plan your World Radio Day event.

EMPOWERHOUSE-sounds support WRD – Listen in!!!

Two sound stories are among the EMPOWERHOUSE contributions – you are just a click away from some good stories:

ABOUT THE *MAGIC* OF COMMUNITY RADIO

In this 5:04 sound clip Birgitte Jallov explains why it is that community radio can be the platform for no less than transformation and important change. The *magic*, however, does not come by itself. It depends on having the community engaged in the process as programme producers around thematic issues of importance for moving towards the development drams and vision of the community. Then it can be *magic*!

WHEN COMMUNITY RADIO STRENGTHENS WOMEN

Celebrating all kinds of radio

Radio is – of course – just a way of transmitting sound – and Radio Stations can be:

• State or Public (service) Radios,
• Private, Commercial Radios or
• Community Radios.

Happy 10-year birthday BreezeFM!!!

In Zambia, BreezeFM these days celebrate its 10 year anniversary covering all three: it is

a community-based, commercial station, with public interest programming.

Breeze FM is located at Chipata, the provincial headquarters of the Eastern Province and one of the fastest growing towns in Zambia.

And BreezeFM has ensured easy access for all: its studios are plumb in the centre of town, next to a taxi-rank, down the road from the main fresh produce market, close to the main banks, and surrounded by restaurants, shops and stalls.

The station operates for 24 hours each day. For 18 hours from 06.00 hours to midnight, Breeze FM broadcasts local programmes. The night shift, from 24.00 to 06.00 hours, is dedicated to BBC live programmes. Much more about Breeze FM here.

EMPOWERHOUSE this year celebrates WRD in Denmark

To celebrate radio, EMPOWERHOUSE this year celebrates in Denmark, where the focus is

The POWER of RADIO

Presentations and debate on the three tiers of radio will mark the celebration here!

EMPOWERHOUSE
wishes you a
HAPPY
2nd
WORLD RADIO DAY
whereever you are and whereever you celebrate
RADIO!!!

A platform for empowerment and development – potentially – community radio deserves to be celebrated, and supported to ensure that it reaches its potential, and that community voices will, indeed, generate the much needed change all over!

This New Year’s blog shares information and inspiration on:

* CR celebrations with perspective: 65 years, 30 years and 1 year – all for change!
* CR reflection: How can CR be sustainable and generate change?
* CR support plans by EMPOWERHOUSE!

 2013 will be a year of celebration for Community Radio

Celebrating 65 years of community voices on air !!!

65 years ago the first community radio (CR) went on air in Colombia in Latin America. The year was 1947, the station Radio Sutatenza, marking the beginning of an era in Latin America and North America, where listeners began to form their own stations: in 1949 the famous radio of the miners in Bolivia (pages 32-35) went on air, and in the US the first Pacifica Station saw the light of day in Berkeley, in the San Fransisco Bay area, still transmitting as KPFA.

Since then the notion of community-owned, listener-sponsored, not-for profit community radio bringing new voices and alternative views, has spread world-wide like a wildfire – see a quick overview of this world development here.

As a result of this development, community radio has become the third broadcasting sector in its own right, in parallel to the two others: the public broadcaster (in some cases these are still mere state broadcasters) and private, commercial radio stations. Community radio has been – and continues to be – the voice of the voiceless and the space for alternative political and socio-cultural thinking and action.

And it is as important as ever to maintain this space on the airwaves and in the national legislation. Treats seem to be ever-increasing against this space for other voices – the voices not merely reporting on the life of people, but the voices coming from within the community itself, addressing challenges, hopes and ways of turning ‘our’ dreams real.

We all have to see these threats clearly – and need to fight them. This is what the following two celebrations are also about: the international community radio association and the world radio day – read on!

Celebrating 30 years of global AMARC CR networking !!!

AMARC, the French acronym for the ‘World Association of Community-oriented Broadcasters’, held its first international conference in 1983 August 7-12 in Montrèal, Canada. The event had been planned for a couple of years as one of many events to celebrate the World Communication Year(WCY). This year was special also for community radio, operating individually, in a few instances within a national movement – often not – and without any international networking and coordination. The WCY, headed by the ITU, “was seen as an opportunity for a “quantum leap” in the development of a complete world communication network which would leave no one isolated from his local, national or international community…”

Inspired by this World Communication Year vision, the community radio networks of Canada and the US, already quite advanced in terms of networking among community radios at a national level, joined hands and reached out to other parts of the world during the years leading up to 1983, to get as many radios, movements and activists as possible represented in Montrèal that hot August month.

Even though special attention was being given to the communication needs of developing countries by the WCY in general, the representatives from here in Montrèal in 1983 were not many more than a handful including the1982 on-air Kenyan community radio in Homa Bay, considered the first community radio in Africa (seeing the Rural Radios of the 70s and 80s as more sector focused than community focused) and with the Mahaveli Station in Sri Lanka already beginning in 1981, prior to the Montreal AMARC meeting in 1983.

In Europe – where I was active at the time – we still did not have any coordination of the mushrooming community radio movements. Even most countries did not have a national overview of which stations where operating where, owned and managed by whom etc.

Two Europeans were on the AMARC steering committee preparing the conference from early 1982 – well in advance: a French community radio activist was responsible for Southern Europe, and I, a community radio activist from Denmark, responsible for the North. We were responsible for mapping, mobilising and inviting radio stations, networks and individuals, and I furthermore was responsible for mapping specific  women’s community radios and related activities in Europe.

With no internet and no existing CR networks we needed all the preparation time we  had:
I travelled the countries of Northern Europe, visiting Ministries of Culture and/or Communication, documentation centres for alternative culture and women’s documentation centres, national radio stations, searched the telephone books.

In this way the two of us managed to develop a good overview of the history, action and the community radios and collectives on air, we reached out and had a good representation also from Europe in the AMARC meeting in Montréal.

More than 600 people from 45 countries met up in 1983 to discuss the issues of importance to the participants: Work against racism and for multiculturalism, How community radio can support alternative movements, How to integrate and use new technology, Sustainability and much more.

The Women’s Section was one of six around which the conference was organised, reflecting the importance given to strenghten women’s role in the movements from the very beginning of the AMARC movement – and a forerunner of the WIN: Women’s International Network, still making up an important and active part of AMARC.

While the themes have not changed much – although of course the specifics naturally have – these discussions in 1983 laid the foundation for what today is the global organisation AMARC with more than 4.000 members from 110 countries.

AMARC encourages all community radio stations, movements and networks, as well as individuals, to organise celebratory activities on the occasion of the 30 years, and they would love to hear above it. AMARC has already outlined a number of activities for the year here.

Also EMPOWERHOUSE invites stories from the 1983 event, which will be highlighted in our newsletter in August this year: mail@empowerhouse.dk

Celebrating 1 year of World Radio Day !!!

World Radio Day was declared by UNESCO during its international conference in 2011 and celebrated for the first time by EMPOWERHOUSE and partners on February 13, 2012.

One of our EMPOWERHOUSE partners, Lifeline Energy, last year mapped the activities known, celebrating the day. We hope this map will be much fuller and more diverse next year!

UNESCO among others says about the plans for 2013:

“UNESCO encourages all countries to celebrate World Radio Day by planning activities in partnership with regional, national and international broadcasters, governmental and non-governmental organizations, the media and the public.

Throughout these web pages, you will find a wealth of resources that you can use free of charge and without copyright restriction to help plan your World Radio Day event. Let’s celebrate!”

- and 2013 will be a year of reflection for community radio

Sustainability remains # 1 challenge for CRs – world-wide!

Anyone, working with community radio in one way or the other, longs for a recipe on how to ensure long-term sustainability.

Such a recipe does not exist. But there are a number of important factors that are crucial for sustainability – and a related number of traps on the way it is easy to fall into which will effectively undermine long-term sustainability.

The 10 most important traps are highlighted in Birgitte Jallov’s guide: “10 Traps to Avoid – when you want a sustainable community radio”. The guide is yours for free here and at the same time you get a free subscription to the monthly EMPOWER NEWS (see below).

CR sustainability is being addressed regularly in publications, events and online. Recently Peter da Costa’s article “The Growing Pains of Community Radio in Africa – Emerging Lessons Towards Sustainability”  has been much referred to and discussed.

While presenting the background and issues at hand, da Costa among others concludes:

“In practice, the record has been mixed, with sustainability a critical challenge. A recent evaluation found that radio stations created through top-down initiatives tend not to survive when external funding dries up. Where such stations do survive, their purpose often becomes different from what was originally intended. Only in a handful of cases have previously aid-dependent radio stations become sustainable. Informed by insights from practitioners, and evaluation reports and scholarly literature, this article draws some emerging lessons.”

Building his article among others on evaluations and sustainability-cum-impact assessments carried out by myself and colleagues, it is exactly this set of challenges that have spurred the way I have built up my new book: the structure, tools and other useful experiences shared in it.

‘Empowerment Radio – Voices building a community’ systematically builds up a framework for sustainable community radios through 13 chapters and 236 pages, taking its reader by the hand through the four core phases in developing a CR – or diagnosing how to get a failing one back on its feet: Exploration, Preparation, Establishment, and on-going Strengthening.

Knowing full-well that it is neither possible nor desirable to have one model for development of community radio, it is stressed all through the book that this structure is meant as generic phases of reflection, clarification and choice, through which any development of community radio need to go, when clarifying the steps on the way from dreaming about creating a CR to get it on air in reality.

And evere CR is by definition special and different, as it reflects the profile, history, people and dreams of exactly one community: ours!

Raghu Mainali, renowned CR Activist, Organiser and Researcher from Nepal, and recipient of the 2012 UNESCO prize for excellence in rural communication, who continues to work hard to ensure sustainability and empowerment among CRs in Nepal, among others says:

“If you want to read only one book on sustainability of community radio, “EMPOWERMENT RADIO – Voices building a community” is the one to read, and as a community radio practitioner in Nepal I have recommended it to my colleagues all over the Asia region: you really need to read and use this remarkable book.”

Impact documentation is closely related to sustainability

Impact Assessment is at the core of the different aspects of community-based research, which make up integral parts of many of the processes that are fundamental to the long-term sustainability of community radio and community media in general.

Assessments of impact anchor the basis for the CR station firmly in the community, ensure participation by all ’communities within the community’, provide a sound basis for strategic planning and is indispensible in assessment of community media impact.

Through all of this, it is a strong tool for community empowerment in its own right. There are many reasons to conduct community-based research with a view to promote strong community radios or media.

The three main objectives are:

• To ensure continuous feed-back between producers and listeners as a means to ensure high programme relevance and quality.
• To monitor if the radio station is on track in relation to its action plans, budgets and goals; and, very importantly to enable radio management to make informed decisions and steer the radio station effectively toward the goals and dreams of the station and the community around it.
• Not least, and very importantly, if you operate with partnership funding to your community radio, to document impact to funders and other paying partners as a basis for advocacy, partnerships and resource mobilisation.

Audience research and impact assessment are essential tools for radio, however, traditional audience research methods are vast and expensive.

As a consequence, most community media struggle to do research, and many simply don’t do it because they feel that demands and requirements surpass their capacity.

However, some community radio stations and their partners have come up with creative ideas for doing credible research, including a series of relevant, accessible, cost-effective yet rigorous research methods that can be used by community radio stations with their own means and staff. Once community members and radio staff realise the importance and value of impact assessments, they are generally well motivated to continue with regular assessments.

EMPOWERHOUSE activity plans for 2013

***
EMPOWERHOUSE – on request – plans a series of  IMPACT ASSESSMENT activities in the new year: online forum discussions, an on-line course and more. We will get back to you with more details by the end of January, so you can include it in your annual plans!

***
“How to turn voices into community change”, the successful on-line course on CR sustainability and empowerment run in October-November last year, will be revised based on experience and recommendations and resurface around April 2013. A wait-list is forming. If you are interested, sign up here.

Some comments from ‘How to turn voices into community change’ participant evaluations:

“This course is bringing a good and strong message to those who are working with CRs and want it to be truly owned by the community. This course presents solutions – is a guide and a road map for sustainable CR.”

“The ever present moderator online made me feel that there is someone listening on the other end. The topics we worked with in the on-line course are of paramount importance to me in my work with CR.”

“The course was educative and it was a wake-up call for some of us who are managing CR for the first time. Especially the rich detail on how to generate sustainability, I have already started to apply in our radio.”

***
EMPOWER FORUM will be activated early 2013: a membership forum for debate of all the crucial issues related to CR sustainability and empowerment. Moderated by Birgitte Jallov you will, as a member and participant, have your own online coach and mentor. More information late January 2013.

***
“EMPOWERMENT RADIO – Voices building a community” by Birgitte Jallov

… has been highlighted as one of the top 5 reads at the end of 2012 in the area of communication for development by CAMECO

Order ‘EMPOWERMENT RADIO’ here!!

The book has received a new, powerful review by June Lennie, among others highlighting:

“I particularly appreciated Jallov’s emphasis on considering all of the diverse ‘communities within the community’ that ideally need to be involved in the research, planning, development and evaluation process.

Jallov highlights the key role of women in community radio and the empowering effects of successful community radio on women’s lives.

Based on her extensive work in this field, Jallov observes that ‘when the community radio moves in women are beaten up less; their children are exposed to less violence and other abuse’. These are powerful effects that need to be better appreciated by those who fund and support community radio and C4D initiatives.” Full review here.

EMPOWER NEWS – have a look!!!

Maybe past issues of the newsletter: EMPOWER NEWS could inspire? Have a look!

December: “Ready for a 2013 of Action and Change!”

November: “On the Move: So much is happening!”

October: “Go for it! Course Start Next Week!”

September: “A first! Celebrate Community Radio!!!”

Lao PDR showing the way…

…even when it is not possible for a community to own a radio station in this one-party socialist country, the leadership have realised that when space is given for small, poor, (often ethnic) communities without a voice and with a language not well covered by the state media, well then a community-run community radio for development can be the missing link between development investment and change taking place!

The fourth of ideally 47 community run community radios in the 47 poorest districts of the mountaneous country in South-Eastern Asia, has just taken off in Dakcheung District, Sekong province, where the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Borsengkham Vongdara, during a speech at the celebration of the annual Mass Media Day, 13 August 2012, said :

“To help people living in remote and poor areas to have better access to news and information, we (the government and media) should find a way to distribute newspapers to them and expand the network of community radio.”

Khoun community radio for Development in Xieng Khouang province was the first of Laos Community-run community radios.

Here the volunteer community broadcasters share their experience with starting up their small community development channel:

For more background on the beginning of the Khoun Community Radio for Development, click here!

Mozambique fighting for CR to stay on air

Intense activity for the good part a week helped get the Macequece community radio back on air in Vila Manica close to the Zimbabwe border. Being closed down by the police on orders from the mayor’s office, but with no explanation, the national forum of community broadcasters, FORCOM, calling among others upon the country’s own constitution (article 48) and the article XIX of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, posting representatives at the station with extensive press coverage – local and national – the station was re-opened after some 4 days with all equipment intact, only a bill to repair the cut cable from the station to its broadcasting tower.

In a country with a dynamic and broad-based community-based radio movement of close to 100 community owned, church owned and state owned community-oriented stations, this challenge to the right to expression has put further emphasis on the need for a passage of the pending legislation on broadcasting, which is hoped to – also in this way – to secure the legal aspect of the fragile sustainability of community radio and community multimedia centres in Mozambique.

New Group rate when
7 participants sign up together:
USD 500 per person!!!
Write to mail@empowerhouse.dk

EMPOWERHOUSE offers its first digital, online course on ‘How to turn voices into community change’, based on Birgitte Jallov’s new book: ‘EMPOWERMENT RADIO – Voices building a community’

A thorough step-by-step introduction to creation of sustainable community radio for empowerment

How to turn voices into community change

An EMPOWERHOUSE 7-week course by Birgitte Jallov

Are you asking yourself how to ensure effective ownership and sustainability for Community Radio? Then this course is made for you! It is the first online, digital course on ‘How to turn voices into community change’, answering your questions and providing practical hands on directions and tools for action.

The objective of ‘How to turn voices into community change’ is to take you through the clarification process step by step, so that the framework for a sustainable community radio becomes straightforward and easy to implement. The course builds on the EMPOWERHOUSE book: “Empowerment Radio – Voices building a community”.

This 7-week and 7-module digital training course is relevant for you, who:

• Facilitate and support the community radio in your community, and could use some inspiration from other communities elsewhere;
• Are working in a community radio network, assisting a number of community radios with a multitude of challenges in the everyday, and sometimes looking for experience from other radios in similar situations
• Works with community radio stations and could use a set of diagnostic tools to support existing station in a needed transformation to generate impact and empowerment;
• Needs support to identify the kind of community radio to support, needing clear ideas on how to design the process to ensure community ownership, what it will take, what to consider and how it may be possible to address these areas step by step along the way;
• Are responsible for planning at national level, seeing how community radio can support the empowerment of communities and spur democratic cultures that you want so much;
• Work in an International organisation or an Embassy, needing clarity to define policies and priorities, with good use for a tool in the scanning of proposals and applications.
• Are a University student, interested in getting a framework for understanding how community radio can become a tool for change and empowerment, and could use a very practical approach to complement the University’s more theoretic entry points.
• Are a Consultant or other professional interested in effective development in general and Communication for Development specifically, interested and in search of (one of) the missing link(s) between development ‘investments’ and development results.

In all of these cases ‘How to turn voices into community change’ will provide you with tools to analyse challenges and find solutions to them, one by one through a systematic and practical learning process where you gain insights, understanding and the tools you need in all important areas from

• Assessing the feasibility of a community radio in your community,
• How to mobilise and map the community,
• How to organise around community visions for a better future,
• How to organise and manage the running of the radio,
• How to build capacity – in an ongoing manner,
• How to develop appropriate programme formats and content, and how to deal with critical issues for the community,
• How to get the equipment in place,
• How to develop a strategic plan,
• How to build partnerships,
• How to plan, carry out and use research and impact assessment,
• How community radio can be strengthened by using the internet and social media, and finally:
• How to work effectively with funders, legislators and (national) community radio networks.

All of these elements make up the foundation of a sustainable community radio, and can be used (i) to inspire creation of a new radio station, (ii) in the diagnosis of an existing station, or (iii) form the basis for community radio policy at national and international levels.

With your dedicated trainer and coach along the way

The trainer of this course is Birgitte Jallov, the author of ‘EMPOWERMENT RADIO’ and initiator of EMPOWERHOUSE.

Through the course, ‘How to turn voices into community change’,
Birgitte will be your guide on how to:

• Design a community radio in active collaboration with a community, for it to become a powerful community development and empowerment dynamo.
• Prioritize and systematize the way forward – step-by-step.
• Transform a community radio, which does not effectively engage the community, into a community-owned, dynamic tool for the community’s work towards a better tomorrow.

But the first step in the process is to decide to join this digital, online training process, putting you in a position to effectively deal with the many issues it takes to plan – or assist – a community radio to engage the community and generate powerful community impact.

I’m ready, a click from me to sign up!!

 How is the course organized? What will I get?

Birgitte Jallov, will be your trainer and discussion moderator all through the 7-module course. Participation in ‘How to turn voices into community change’ will provide you with:

• 7 well prepared modules including
  • audio presentations on the many issues to deal with – a total of about 1 hour;
  • models and tools to use when implementing the issues at hand;
• module by module you will get the relevant chapters from the book: “Empowerment Radio – Voices building a community”. In the end you will have the full book;
• access to a moderated online forum, setting the stage for questions and answers as well as debate between the participants to discuss the issues raised, and to mutually further exchange ideas, challenges, dreams and solutions. This forum is moderated by Birgitte Jallov.

BONUS: by the end of the course, participants will be transferred to the EMPOWERHOUSE online membership club: EMPOWER FORUM, where you can continue the discussion, sharing and learning until the end of the year – for free!

When does the course take place?

The course will begin Wednesday October 17, where your module 1 will be available for download from 12 noon CET (GMT+1). You can download the audio presentations and stories, the chapters and the models referred to in the audio. These models and tool are partly from the book, partly additional tools for your practical use.

Access to the following modules will continue as above Wednesday by Wednesday until the end of the course 7 weeks and 7 modules later on November 28. You will still, as part of your package, have access to the moderated online forum until the end of the year, 2012.

What will I concretely learn?

Each module will provide you with a specific set of learning points outlined at the end of this presentation, and it will be available when you register.

In general ‘How to turn voices into community change’ will provide you with insights, understanding and tools to:

• Develop community ownership in and around the community radio through community mapping, mobilisation and organisation;
• Organise, structure and manage a participatory development and empowerment radio;
• Mobilise and organise community volunteer broadcasters,
• Identify the technical configuration you need and how to manage this in the community;
• Identify the important issues and priority themes in the community and develop skills to turn these into effective radio programmes,
• Address sustainability issues and develop partnerships with the relevant stakeholders.

And in the process you get numerous concrete stories and examples of how different community radios in different parts of the world have dealt with the issues that you are tackling yourself.

To take part in the ‘How to turn voices into community change’ digital, online course you will pay

USD 875

You will receive an email recognizing your registration, providing you with detailed information about the next steps in the process.

You will also receive an invoice in the name provided by you when you register.

Your registration is binding and covers the full series of 7 webinars. Should you need to withdraw your registration, 15% of the full course fee will be withheld. With less than one month to the start date 50% of the full registration fee will be withheld. 14 days or less before webinar start, there will be no reimbursement.

I want my seat now!

What do I need to know or do, to take part in the course?

Are you wondering whether this course is for you or not? Well, if you work with community radio in one or more of the ways mentioned above, you are qualified to take part. If you simply listen in once a week, you will get a lot of practical knowledge about what it takes to run a community radio and make it sustainable, and you will have heard how radios in different parts of the world have done this. The more time you invest in reading the materials sent, using the forms and models on the radio(s) you are maybe working with, the more benefits you will naturally reap, including spending time in the online forum, to which participants have access, and where questions for discussions will be opened, concrete implementation of the issues discussed in the past module and be further delved into and where you can share your own experience. If you have never worked with community radio but are curious and interested, you will learn a lot also from these discussions – and who knows: you may well join in anyway!

Besides from this the training modules operate in English only and you will, of course, need to have access to the internet. As it is a digital course, you can download it at your convenience: when you have access.

Do you still have questions that are not answered you are welcome to write to your trainer, Birgitte Jallov, here: mail@empowerhouse.dk

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The contents and learning points of the course are the following:

“HOW TO TURN VOICES INTO COMMUNITY CHANGE”

Module 1:
Community radio (CR) for development and empowerment – a world movement for action and change

In this module we will cover:

Introduction to the full framework of the 7-week training process

• The characteristics of Community Radio
• The history and evolution of CR
• Potential of CR and generic phases of CR development

In this module you will learn:

• How to distinguish between the many different types of radio, with different characteristics and potentials;
• Positioning community radio within the broader framework of Communication for Development
• The steps needed to create a sustainable community radio for empowerment and change.

Module 2:
Community ownership of your radio: The community organises and creates the basis for sustainability

In this module we will cover:

• What sustainability is made up by in a community radio
• The importance of community involvement and how to generate this
• The importance of community ownership and what it can bring to a community

In this module you will learn:

• How to build sustainability into the basics of a community radio including:
- Social sustainability
- Organisational sustainability
- Financial sustainability
• How to assess sustainability in an existing community radio
• How to ensure community ownership – tools and processes available for this including a 3-step process

Module 3:
The Community Radio Takes Shape
How to get the CR organised and the capacity of community broadcasters in place?

In this module we will cover:

• How to get from the dream and the community vision to implementation
• How to effective let the community structure the organisation and how to ensure effective (community) management
• How to build capacity in a community radio.

In this module you will learn:

• Plans and processes to organise the radio with maximum involvement and for continued community control and benefit – including tools and forms to use in the everyday
• How to mobilise and organise a large number of volunteers and build the required engagement and capacity
• A variety of forms of capacity building that can be used, their strengths and weaknesses and how to build a training policy

Module 4:
The programme content and format production – Critical issues in Community radio programming

In this module we will cover:

• Thematic editorial groups – at the heart of the CR becoming a tool for empowerment
• Organisation and production routines
• Establishing the weekly programme format
• The importance of local language
• Strategic framework, editorial groups and the (weekly) production cycle
• Cross-cutting issues most CRs will cover:
• CR and elections
• CR and Women
• CR and human rights
• CR in conflict and peace building
• CR, stigma and taboos

BONUS: Technical aspects of community radio:
• What makes a sound and sustainable technical configuration
• Technical policy
• Recommended steps for technical capacity building

In this module you will learn:

• How to identify programming needs of the community and organise editorial groups effectively around it
• How to prepare the weekly programme schedule including all relevant languages: what to consider, how to organise
• Inspiration on how to deal with cross cutting issues that most CRs will want to cover

Module 5:
The Strategic Plan and Partnership Strategy

In this module we will cover:

• Why is a strategic plan needed – and how to develop it with participation & community learning?
• What should a strategic plan include?
• Need for partnerships to attain sustainability
• What is a partnership, a partner, and a partnership strategy?
• What should be included in a partnership strategy?

In this module you will learn:

• How to develop a strategic plan?
• How to identify the station’s strategic direction and carry out the strategic analysis, which will lead to the strategic programming?
• How a partnership strategy is developed and implemented

Module 6:
Community-based research – monitoring and impact assessment, along with:
Converging technologies – CR, internet and social media

In this module we cover:

• The importance and methodologies of community based research including monitoring and impact assessment
• Impact assessment to feedback results to the producers, the community and the radio’s partners
• The ‘old-fashioned radio’ moves on: convergence and strengthening of community radio through ICTs

In this module you will learn:

• Why research and documentation is important – also in a community radio
• How to organise the team to do research in the everyday, including Information & communication needs assessment; monitoring & feed-back; Listener groups; Impact assessment; Most significant change; barefoot impact assessment
• How internet and social media have impacted on community radio and some of the ways to use it in a community radio for empowerment

Module 7:
Where support is needed: the enablers and facilitators

In this module we will cover:

• The national enabling environment: elements and function – what can be done?
• Role of facilitators and inverting top-down support
• Joining hands makes you stronger: working in partnerships and forming networks

In this module you will learn:

• How the different enablers operate and how to benefit from each of them
• How to take the support the radio needs without losing community ownership and focus
• How to make a national network effective and staying in touch

 ©EMPOWERHOUSE, Birgitte Jallov, 2012

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