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Iconography - Anita Ceravolo (Auburn City Council)
- 1. Harnessing Iconography to Communicate with Diverse Communities Anita Ceravolo Community Development - Access & Inclusion – Auburn City Council
- 2. Overview of Auburn City Suburbs Population Communication Challenges
- 3. Overview of Auburn City Suburbs Include: • Auburn • Berala • Lidcombe • Regents Park • Rookwood • Silverwater • Sydney Olympic Park • Wentworth Point • Newington
- 4. Overview of Auburn City Population: 85.446 • 56.9% born overseas (126 countries) • 27% arrived in Australia in last 5 years • 71% speak a language other than English • 18.7% are not fluent in English • 15.4% of the population have some form of disability • 4.5% have a profound to severe disability • 10% of residents are caring for a person with disability
- 5. Overview of Auburn City Communication Challenges: • 67 languages • Illiteracy • Transient population • Low home internet access • Layers of disadvantage :Poverty, education levels, asylum seeker population. • Cultural stigma associated with ageing and disability
- 6. Icons as a Communication Tool The Power of Icons
- 7. Icons as a Communication Tool The Power of Icons • Combining icons with text improves communication and learning by 89% • People remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, but 80% of what they see • 83% of human learning occurs visually
- 8. Icons as a Communication Tool The Power of Icons • Communicate information faster than words • Can be understood by diverse audiences • Can communicate a lot of information without taking up a lot of space • Icons can visually define a concept
- 9. Auburn Case Studies Community Consultations Talking Care of Our Seniors Community Services Directory
- 10. Auburn Case Studies Community Consultations Consulting with CALD communities • Wordless consultation exercise • Surveys translated into six languages • Consultations delivered to existing social groupings in own language
- 11. Auburn Case Studies Taking Care of Our Seniors Engaging with CALD Communities • A referral pathway for isolated seniors • Community Partnership • Utilised existing resources
- 12. Auburn Case Studies Community Services Directory Communicating with CALD Communities • Two referral pathways • Icons to demonstrate service types • Translated into 12 languages
- 13. Benefits & Disadvantages Benefits Disadvantages Best Practice
- 14. Benefits & Disadvantages Benefits • Cost effective • Communication efficiency • Avoid confusion in messages
- 15. Benefits & Disadvantages Disadvantages • Some concepts are not easy to represent visually • Interpretation of icons can vary, based on background, experience and perspective • No database
- 16. Benefits & Disadvantages Best Practice • Icons to supplement text-based communication • Consult with communities to test the image and text • Partner with cultural organisations to distribute • For residents
- 17. Icons as Part of a CALD Communication Strategy Research the Community Develop Strategic Partnerships Foster Leadership
- 18. Part of a CALD Communication Strategy Research the Community Cultural Diversity & Social Identity • Social identity can facilitate or inhibit communication • Certain issues can be stigmatised by social groups • Inter group rivalry
- 19. Part of a CALD Communication Strategy Develop Strategic Partnerships Which organisations can help you communicate to CALD groups, address issues and build capacity in the community? • Interagencies • Events • Projects • Public Communication
- 20. Part of a CALD Communication Strategy Foster Leadership Work with Community Leaders • Surveys • Online activity • Forums & Workshops • Focus groups • Events
- 21. References: • “Visual Language and Converging Technologies in the Next 10-15 Years and Beyond” by Robert E. Horn, Stanford University, Dec. 2001. • “Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication” by Paul Martin Lester, California State University at Fullerton, 1994–1996. • “Presenting Effective Presentations with Visual Aids” by U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Office of Training and Education, May 1996. • “Ethnicity and the Stigma of Disabilities” Psychology and Health, 16, 699 – 714, Saetermoe,C.L, Scattone, D. & Kim, K.H. 2001.
- 22. Questions
Editor's Notes
- Good afternoon Anita ceravolo Community Development Access and Inclusion Work with Seniors and people with disability Today im going to give a simple presentation about how to use Iconography, symbols and imagery to enhance communication with CALD communities and I will also give some examples from a community development perspective at Auburn City Council.
- to give you some context of the community that this strategy draws apon - ill just start by giving a quick overview of auburn.
- Auburn City is made up of
- Auburn has a population of approx 85k, According to the 2011 census, Auburn is the second most disadvantaged suburb in Sydney. Nearly 57 percent of residents were born overseas, 27 percent of residents arrived in Australia in the last 5 years, 71 percent speak a language other than English, and 18.7 percent do not speak English well or not at all Auburn has the second highest number of new arrivals in NSW and the highest number of humanitarian entrants per capita of any local government area in NSW.
- There are several challenges associated with communicating to residents in Auburn City. Whilst council often translates resources into the top 4 community languages (arabic, turkish, korean nad chinese) another 38 percent of the population speaks another language other than these languages or english. Further -A significant proportion of the Auburn population experience multiple disadvantage which include; poverty, trauma associated with conflict and warfare, inadequate education opportunities, unemployment, and cultural stigma associated with issues linked to ageing and disability. All of these factors represent challenges to communicating in Auburn City.
- Now ill outline why icons are a useful tool and a powerful way to engage with CALD communities.
- Studies have proven that icons are a very powerful communication tool. Read through
- This means that icons and images can – Read through
- Im now going to outline a few case studies about How icons and visual communication have been used to consult, engage and communicate in auburn.
- I am responsible for Auburn Community Access Plan and Auburn City Positive ageing strategy – for both strategies council undertook extensive community consultations. For example - During the research phase of the Auburn City Positive Ageing strategy A total of 25 consultation activities involving more than 500 people, including: Survey undertaken online and face to face with 316 people. 20 face to face workshops involving 210 participants. 2 consultation forums with volunteer orgs/ community leaders/CALD representatives. 1 forum with 20 Service Providers. For the 20 face to face workshops I communicated through cultural organisations and leaders of emerging communities to encourage their constituents to participate in the research. I also organised to meet the seniors and people with disability within the context of their existing social groups, and asked the residents to do anonymous individual surveys to avoid ‘group think’ and peer pressure. Afghan group at Service for the treatment and rehabilitation of trauma and torture survivors (STARTTS)- This was a structured session which included brainstorming exercises. Many of the participants could not speak English very well so images where printed on cards and grouped into categories. The participants placed stickers on the images which resonated with them. We identified which issues were most pertinent to the group by the amount of stickers placed on each image.
- The next case study is the ‘Taking Care of our Seniors’ project Community partnership between st josephs hospital, flemnigton police, Baptist care and council Intended audience is service providers as well as residents Demonstrates a referral pathway for isolated seniors – referred services, a monitoring alarm or both The partners were successful in securing a grant for mobitoring alarms, and the intention of the partners was to utlise our existing resources to fulfil the aims of the project We cut costs by minimising and simplifying the text and having 5 languages on the one flier – the iconography aided us in doing so by clearly demonstrating the 5 signs of social isolation of older people – as you can see each icon has minimal text translated into turkish, korean, arabic and chinese underneath We are currently producing a postcard sized version of the flier and it will be delivered to each letterbox in the auburn lga – the 5 languages and iconography will make the flier more effective in communicating with a broader range of residents.
- The final case study is the Community Services Directory which has been produced by council Intended audience is residents Has been translated in 12 languages Demonstrates two referral pathways for home care services – 1 pathway is the aged care hotline for people over 65 and the other is a disability information hotline for people under 65 with disability Iconography is supplemented by minimal text and demonstrates each of the service types Good feedback from service providers who are using the flier to communicate with clients about service types and the referral pathway. The iconography enabled the flier to be more cost effective, communicatively efficient and also avoided confusion in the messaging of the service types
- So now I will outline an overview of some of the benefits and disadvantages of using icons and visual communication and some recommendations based on the auburn experience.
- As detailed in the case studies that have just been outlined – harnessing iconography and visual communication can streamline text and enhance the understanding of the communication piece. Icons and visual communication can be used across cultures to demonstrate common themes. With the right amount of icons or images and text – you can cut costs by having less text or developing material that incorporates more than one language – meaning your organisation saves money and communicates more efficiently.
- Now onto some of the disadvantages Its often not easy to come up with the right icons or images and Some concepts are not easy to represent visually. People's interpretation of icons can vary, based on their background, experience and perspective. When communicating with CALD communities , designing icons that can be widely understood can be challenging There is currently no database of icons and imagery that can be applied to community services – I think a commitment to work together and build a database would be a great outcome of this conference.
- Here are some of the lessons that have been learnt from using icons and imagery in Auburn. Icons are best used when supplement text-based communication – keep the text simple and to a minimum – the icons and or imagery combined with the text will improve communication and learning amongst your targeted audience. Consult with communities to test the image and text – even if you use a translating service, its important to double check text with community members, as well as check the pertinence of the iconography, as interpretation of icons, symbols or images can be varied based on cultural perspectives. Partner with cultural organisations to distribute the material. This means communicating directly with the organisation about the material and how it benefits their constituents. Send the organisation hard copies of the material, as well as electronic versions. If possible – ask for a meeting with the organisation to present the project and the material to the organisation in person. Conduct the meeting in partnership with a member of the relevant community. The primary target for image based communication is residents - as service workers generally have english and literacy skills. Further, service providers will often need detailed information about the sector and the complex issues that arise in the provision of services
- Icons are part of an overall strategy to communicate with CALD communities – ill now just quickly outline the aligning strategies.
- Its important to conduct research into the community and have an understanding of the composition of the population you are trying to communicate with. What cultural and language groups are prevalent in the community? Which organisations represent these groups? With residents coming from over 120 countries around the world, Council must consider the cultural appropriateness of its communication materials. This means that In a community as diverse as Auburn – we need to take into account social groups and identities. Id just like to give you a couple of examples about how we have reframed language and concepts in order to overcome cultural taboos and stigma. The first one is taboos in the CALD community associated with disability. This cultural stigma inhibits sections of the CALD community who are reluctant to identify themselves or a family member as having a disability. For example, in many areas of China, disability is viewed as the punishment for parental sins. Family members of people with disability often grapple with feelings of shame and guilt, therefore, it can be difficult to engage with sections of the Chinese community regarding disability issues. In order to address this challenge, Council now frames projects around the principle of access and inclusion which is applicable to all community members. For instance – my title has been altered from age and disability – to access and inclusion. Another example is the stigma which inhibits sections of the community who are reluctant to identify themselves or a family member as suffering from abuse. In 2012, Council held a series of seminars hosted by TARS about elder abuse in Regents Park, Auburn, Newington and Lidcombe. The seminars were poorly attended. In order to counteract this -for projects which encompass abuse, Council is currently designing a project under the banner of ‘What is a Healthy Relationship?
- The next – identify which organisations can help you communicate to CALD groups, address issues and build capacity in the community? As noted earlier - Thirty eight percent of Auburn’s residents do not speak one of the 6 main languages or English. Communicating effectively with Auburn’s diverse population requires strategic partnerships with a diversity of community and cultural organisations. There are over 200 active organisations in the Auburn LGA, consisting of service providers, NGO’s, cultural organisations, peer support groups and volunteer organisations. In order to effectively implement social planning strategies, the community development unit convenes 9 of 13 regular inter-agencies and networks meetings held in the Auburn LGA covering a range of community issues and service areas. Two examples of these interagencies are the auburn community sector networking forum and the cumberland prospect HACC forum. Being active within Interagencies & becoming involved in the organisation of community events are a great way to work constructively with community organisations and develop rapport with their constituents. Once you have developed a good working relationship you can engage with the organisation and partner on projects and communication materials.
- And finally its important to foster leadership in the CALD community. Community leaders are often the gateway to CALD communities and working together with community leaders allows you to engage communities in a meaningful way. Developing a good working relationships with the right people can really enable the implementation of CALD projects Leaders can assist in distributing and collecting Surveys Facilitate Online activity Mobilise their communities for Forums & Workshops, Focus groups and Events