Community Radio Management

– A 5-day workshop

The below framework is a sample, which can be adjusted to meet particular needs and challenges identified locally.

Participants

Depending upon the participants in a workshop, the approach and content will be adjusted. Participants benefiting from a community radio management course could be the following categories:

community radio management teams
community radio boards
community radio networks
community radio consultants
community radio facilitators and supporters (NGOs, bilateral or multilateral agencies)
community radio funding partners
national authorities engaging in creating the legal, enabling environment for community radio

The objectives

For a group of community radio management teams the objectives could be:

To position community radio within the broader framework of communication for development,
To equip participants with the skills for effective community radio management with community participation and ownership,
Help the radio identify its own particular profile, vision and development path, preparing for well managed community radios,
To explore with the participants, how to best ensure Community-based programming in the future: how to involve members in program production?
To provide an in-depth understanding of sustainability models and ways forward,
To ready the community radio leadership for subsequent serious reform needs possibly identified.

Content

Profiling Community radio within the broader framework of communication for development,
Community Radio: a reflection of the community – the many different shapes and forms,
Community Radio management for sustainability: Social, organisational, financial,
Community participation and ownership of community radio: ways forward through community mapping, understanding the community, planning,
Organising the community radio,
Building capacity for sustainability: turning the community station into a ‘learning station’,
The strategic plan as the skeleton of a healthy radio,
Building the partnership strategy that will move your plans forward,
Community-based research: monitoring and impact assessment – way forward,
Adapting the discussions into action plans,
the end of the workshop, the participants will have , An overall understanding of the role their community radio can play in the community
An action plan (written up) on how to get there, step by step, including:
o A mobilisation plan for the community
o A plan for generating a community radio organisation including editorial production (cum action) groups
o A capacity building plan for the community broadcasters
o A good understanding and a plan for how to develop community leadership from board over management of the radio to the community groups
o How to lead a participatory strategic planning exercise in the community, to include all of the above
A strong network made up by the participants, knowing who have which special competencies for sharing.