Building capacity to communicate

1. Michelle Kovacevic Communications capacity building Towards a strategy

2. Objectives 1. Clarify the capacity building activities CIFOR’s communication unit currently undertakes 1. Brainstorm towards a comprehensive capacity building strategy across Africa, Asia and Latin America

3. What is CIFOR’s approach to communications capacity building? Activities that boost: • CIFOR’s ability to communicate its science (internal) • Forest science communications skills of environmental journalists, boundary partners and other audiences of strategic interest to CIFOR (external)

4. Capacity building activitiesCapacity building activities Internal Scientist communications training Journal club External Journalist training Communications Boundary partners Social media Websites (e.g. REDDI) Youth

5. Capacity building activitiesCapacity building activities Internal Scientist communications training Journal club External Journalist training Communications Boundary partners Social media Websites (e.g. REDDI) Youth

6. Scientist communications training

7. CIFOR scientist comms training More info: http://kmc4crps.wikispaces.com/Resources

8. Capacity building activities Internal Scientist communications training Journal club External Journalist training Communications Boundary partners Social media Websites (e.g. REDDI)

9. Journal Club A dedicated informal time each fortnight for CIFOR's communications staff to either: • Present and discuss a new innovation in communications, knowledge sharing or forestry; • Reflect on what they've learned from a particular event or activity; • Brainstorm creative ways to overcome a challenge we are all facing; • Teach the rest of the team a new skill. Also an opportunity for staff to practice presentation/facilitation skills.

10. Journal Club: Some techniques and activity types Activity Description Teach by asking - elicit don’t tell Demonstrate use of equipment by asking questions of participants throughout Individual or pair/group work exercise to elicit existing knowledge / experience. Brainstorming in pairs or groups Matching, grouping or ranking e.g. terms with definitions, ordering the stages of a process or operation e.g. operating a camera Transformation e.g. written brochure is turned into an educational radio or TV piece Quiz Good way to check knowledge and learning at start and end of session. Can be oral, using pictures, True / False / don’t know statements for discussion Simulation of real life work activities Group given real-life dilemmas and has to decide what they would do in the given situation e.g. editorial decisions Peer Assist Sharing of experiences with problems discussed and solutions offered. More info: http://www.kstoolkit.org/Peer+Assists Thanks to Keith Ricketts and http://www.kstoolkit.org/

11. Journal club - topics #1: How to shoot an interesting video interview #2: Prezi and powerpoint presentations #3: Book review of “Measuring the Networked Nonprofit: Using Data to Change the World” and “The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change” #4: Are digital think tanks the future? What CIFOR can learn from the Overseas Development Institute's online strategy #5: Outcome mapping: What are the implications for communications? #6: Technical Online Communicators' workshop recap #7: New York Times’ leaked Digital Media strategy #8: Welcome to the age of big and open data Resources stored in a common dropbox folder.

12. Capacity building activities Internal Scientist communications training Journal club External Journalist training Communications Boundary partners Social media Websites (e.g. REDDI) Youth

13. Journalist training • Since 2011: • Kalimantan • Bali – mangroves and REDD • Vietnam – coastal ecosystems and REDD+ • Cameroon – Yaounde conference • Peru – REDD+ • Zambia – REDD+ • Jakarta – Forests in Southeast Asia • Future: Work with national and international journalist associations to develop programs?

15. Youth capacity building Global Landscapes Forum, Warsaw: 10 inspirational young professionals selected to present their challenge and success stories in natural resource management www.landscapes.org/youth Forests Asia Summit: 150 of the best and brightest young minds from across ASEAN took part in interactive roundtable discussions to find creative ideas for the region’s future. www.forestsasia.org/youth Next youth session at COP20 in Lima: Master classes for young professionals?

17. Capacity building and training for scientists, journalists and communicators Social media training • Social reporters training: For those with no background in social media to learn how to use an array of online tools to report from conferences • Social media bootcamp: for social media professionals managing the social media outreach for a non-profit organisation. Delves deeper into the use of social media and social reporting for nonprofit causes.

19. REDD+ website in Bahasa Indonesia www.redd-indonesia.org “The public often sees governments as slow to disseminate clear information. This is not due to a lack of commitment to communication (as a publicly-funded government institution, we bear a responsibility to disseminate our research information transparently) but a lack of capacity and experience with contemporary communication tools and strategies. We thought that a website would also be an ideal way to build these communication skills. Thus [the website] was born.” Article by Dyah Pusapari, Forestry Research and Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry (FORDA) and Budhy Kristanty, CIFOR http://actlocalfirst.org/2014/01/improving- understanding-of-forests-and-climate-change-in- indonesia/

20. Questions for discussion 1. What opportunities exist for communications capacity building (internal and external) in Africa and Latin America? 1. Are there other capacity building activities we should consider? What resources would we need?