Our annual workshops on PCA are an opportunity to reach out to civil society organizations across the country who work with groups and communities on a wide range of issues.

The six-day process provides the space and scope for sharing of experiences and reflecting on the learning; deliberating on communication-related concerns; learning and practicing tools and methods for better facilitation. The workshop will seek to sensitize and build capacities of the participants to facilitate enabling and empowering processes with groups and communities who are otherwise not even heard.

Some of the participating organizations in the earlier three workshops included AHRD, MAVIM, ML Dawale Memorial Trust, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Point of View, SATH Network, WOTR, YUVA, MASUM, YARD, YASHADA, Ashoka Innovators,  Saathi, Disha Kendra, Manav Hakk Abhiyaan, Rural Development Centre, (Maharashtra), Sakhi (Kerala), Samskar-Plan (Andhra Pradesh), Samraksha (Karnataka), Government functionaries from the Education department (Maharashtra), ICDS department (Gujarat), Health department (Maharashtra, Gujarat and Orissa) also participated in the workshops.

We look forward to participation in the 4th PCA workshop from your organization/partners, thereby enriching the learning process.

Details of the programme are as follows:

Workshop title
Participatory Communication & Action – Approaches, Tools, Processes

Dates
September 25 to 30, 2008

Venue
Environment Education Centre, Talegaon, District Pune, Maharashtra

Objectives

By the end of the workshop, the participants will have

·         Compared different approaches to development, participation and communication

·         Analyzed the paradigm shift towards participatory communication and action

·         Practiced the use of different participatory communication tools and methods

·         Designed an intervention strategy for participatory communication and action

·         Selected, adapted or evolved a set of tools and methods to be explored while working with groups

Methodology

The effort will be towards creating a participant-centred environment for experiential learning. The facilitation will explore a wide range of participatory tools and methods to encourage learning from each other. While Hindi and English will be the main languages of the workshop, participants will be encouraged to interact/work in their regional languages.

Participants

Middle-level functionaries from NGOs, government departments and other civil society organizations working with groups and communities.

Participation fee

Rs.6,000/- per participant

The participation fee includes lodging, boarding and resources for the workshop. The lodging and boarding facilities at the venue will be available from September 24 (evening) to September 30 (evening). Participants are requested to reach the venue on the evening of September 24 and make their travel arrangements accordingly.

Registration

Please confirm your participation before September 10, 2008, together with a demand draft favouring "media matters" payable at Ambernath or Mumbai.

Regards and best wishes

Seema Kurup/ Mobile: 9881261094

media mattersPlot 400, Sai Section, Ambernath 421501, Maharashtra, IndiaTel.  91-251-2606929 ; email: info@mmindia.org media matters, a registered non-profit trust,works in the area of development communication with a rights-based approach,exploring and experimenting with participatory media and communicationwith a focus on capacity building; design and development of resources; theatre for development;video documentaries; research and process documentation.