It has been great to be part of this competition and I only wish we could continue editing our entry, I feel my vision has evolved loads recently and Id love to share some of the ideas with other changemakers and get feedback. So Im resorting to posting them as comments! I just read an entry about using SMS for information exchange. I was also thinking about using SMS more in our project. We train people from poor communities to use video to communicate their stories, ideas, projects and perspectives. We build local capacity so that they can continue to use this tool as a means of social mobilisation and advocacy. Id love to keep in touch with all the community members we train, directly. Currently we do this via our local NGO partners & email...but this is limited and hard to get a 2 way communication going. It would be great if these people who are on the other side of aid/development could be more involved in global debates and be able to contribute their perspectives and ideas more...they are the experts...not the development "specialists" & academics. I want to have a forum where people could send texts to individuals/beneficiaries directly & where they can feed in their views. Be great also for monitoring & evaluating projects and linking potential individual donors directly to beneficiaries. Each message could add enough credit to their phone so they can then text back some replies...is this technologically possible? I wonder if any phone company would be interested in supporting this idea? Anyone heard of anything similar?
Chris
Insight Director
Chris,
I hate to be the one to break this to you....but you can edit your entry (not now obviously) but throughout the competition....oh well, but next year, I am counting on you being a finalist!! I love the debate that has unfolded as well and am psyched that you have been on this journey with us!
Talk soon,
Z
No you couldn't actually change the entry after the initial entry phase was over and the judging began...and also cant change it now, be nice too and keep it as an evolving vision you can keep sending people to to look at and feed into..
ciao
c
Dear Chris!
I loved the PVtraining and would love to wrk with you and Insight as I develop course for undergraduates in educational science on evaluation and videotechniques.
Have you worked with unversities to train students before? Could you share some of your experiences?
Talk to you soon
hc
Heather Cameron
Free University Berlin
University Challenge
Hi Heather!
We conduct a yearly 5 day trainings at Winchester University for students and that works well. But so far in most cases students will come to our PV intro training in Oxford, UK (see our website for details). Lots of MA and PHD students are keen to learn how to use PV to incorporate into the research as a way of geting more authentic local involvement and encouraging comunity-led action research. They always learn a lot about attitudes and ethics through this work too as Participatory Video really is about handing over control and letting go, which we have found many researchers find difficult to do initially. Our Oxford 5 day course includes 1 day field work with local community charity /groups. We used the same model during our Winchester Uni training and it worked really well.
Hope this helps, we can talk more about this...
Cheers
Chris
A little late for comments but this is definitely a great idea and we would love to see how we can support and be part of it. Having seen the work you guys did in Namibia, and talking to several of the youth you worked with, i have no doubt that some unbelievable work could happen soon.
Thanks Kieran for your support. Lets see how we can work together on this in 2008, great to hear you guys at Commonwealth Games Association of Canada want to get involved. Will keep you posted.
All the best
Chris
My name is Christian Wach and I'm one of the founders of the Spirit of Football project. I thought I'd drop you a line to say how delighted I was to read Andrew's email describing your phone conversation. Andrew has been buzzing with ideas since he discovered your project here on Changemakers. As an anthropology graduate myself, I think what you're doing with PV is really valuable and it was great to read that you were so positive about our plans. It seems to me that there are exciting prospects for collaboration between our projects!
I also thought I'd let you know that we've updated our entry to include what we see as the mutually beneficial aspects of our collaboration in the run up to the World Cup in 2010 - and (we hope) for World Cups thereafter.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for this, I will check out your updated entry. Andrew spoke very positively about you and I love what you have been doing. I have had some more thoughts about the whole idea and Im looking forward to taking this further with you guys in 2008.
Cheers
Chris
Chris,
I was just reading the dimension dance entry (look under the dance entries) and thought that in terms of coming up with a sustainable financing strategy, maybe your model can be more sustainable if the organizations that invest to get the training/ skills can also use their video skills (perhaps less the participatory side of the training though) to record instructional videos and thereby recoup their investment by selling these videos. This will only work from orgs that have something to teach, e.g. curriculum or dance moves, etc.
But might be an interesting addition to the hub model.
Z
I saw your comments on their entry and like where you are heading with that, an interesting new application which could add a new element. Hope to hear their thoughts about this from them directly.
All the best
Chris
Chris
I really think you can take this initiative to the next level. I think there is a deep link between sport and PV because there is no better way to demonstrate the power of sport than to see it and we need something like PV to show all the disbelievers out there that sport can be so much more than just recreation. On another note, I have been thinking a lot about the sport for development movement and believe that we are in effect creating an alternative to what has become the mainstream experience of sport. Extending this vision to the auxiliary industries that support the on-the-field aspect of sport will just accelerate the overall movement toward an alternative sports industry! It would be cool to think through how your work could be taken to scale and represent an alternative to traditional sports media portrayals?
z
Hi Ziba!
Thanks for your inspiring thoughts re: alternatives to traditional sports media portrayals. Ive been thinking about the vision you outline and in many ways it fits with our perspective which is that through participatory video we are in a way creating an antidote to the mass media machine. Working towards a media that is controlled by the people it portrays, that comes from the grassroots, that builds local pride and strengthens local values. This will help us move away from the largely disappointing vision (from a development and social change perspective) that has been portrayed as "the global village" and move us more firmly towards a far more exciting vision:"the villaged globe". I think the same applies to your point, if we are to create an alternative to mainstream sport and project a world where sport is about developing people and their communities then we need a new vehicle to do this. The global network of Participatory Video organisations outlined above in our competition entry could be this vehicle.
Of course nobody wants to do away with world class sport or the big media industry! We need to work together with these massive industries and in someway use them and subvert them with our creative interventions! The question is are they ready for this? In some cases they are. Desperately so! We need to connect with these big players, however we also must retain an authentic process and vision, it would be easy to have this distorted and repackaged in a way that ticks all their boxes yet fails the recipients themselves. So, as with many exciting visions, the idea holds opportunities and challenges. I have heard recently that MTV are very keen to hear the voice of the youth...this could be the prefect thing for them, perhaps you guys can help us with lining things up and making introduction? We are coming to the US in April 2008, so this is a great chance to meet up and make things real!
Cheers Chris
Hey Chris,
Use them and subvert them eh? Sounds like a revolution! Count me in ;-) Seriously, a couple of thoughts for you...I do think you have to figure out where your line is, how far are you willing to go to give young people a voice? The youtube audience is probably more tolerant to a 6 minute video than MTV is, corporate partners have their paradigms and their ways of doing things (right or wrong) and if you want to tap their power and reach - a good thing to do in my mind - you have to find a way to adapt your model to allow young people to have effective voices but you might have to find a way to help them do it in sharper soundbytes. hmmm.....so this brings up the question - where is your line, what are you ultimately trying to achieve? Quality or quantity and if its somewhere between the two, does it vary project by project, with the pure stuff "subsidizing" the more hybrid stuff?
On another note.... I LOVE the "villaged globe" expression - did you come up with that? April 2008? Hopefully the USA will be a better place by then and Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee!
oh yeah, one other thought. What about partnering with major broadcasters to finally cover major sport for change events like the Homeless World Cup. This stuff is as inspiring, or more, than any professional contest where a questionable number of the athletes are on human growth hormone (!) and to have you guys work with the athletes to tell their stories during the half time shoes, etc. would be awesome. And to tell their stories directly, to control the camera. I love what this could look like!
Hi Ziba,
The Villaged Globe term was not my own. Here is the full quote:
"When the global village came to India I saw how brutally we were oppressed by the values of the US media...so today I dont believe in the global village anymore. What I believe in is the villaged globe -where every village can produce its own programme and take it onto a global platform. Where, if you switch on the television on a tuesday morning, you will be probably watching programmes from the favellas of Brazil, and the afternoon you're seeing programmes from Tanzania, in the evening you're watching films from Pashtapur. I think that is television of the future for us -where the community defines its values and its visions to a global, villaged audience. Its not a wild dream. All it needs is for a group of committed people to come together, share this vision." from PV Sateesh - based in India. This came from an interview I did recently with him. He is definitely a changemaker, one of the older generation Participatory Video pioneers who has inspired us a lot. We are going to put this interview live soon on our new pV portal site, where we are linking PV practitioners from around the world. 1st step towards the vision described in the entry above! The pilot site will be live next month. PV Sateesh is also outlining another exciting goal for our collective vision: a satellite which beams participatory video films to viewers and villages around the world...yes..this is becoming a real possibility if we can inspire people to donate to this aim...why not reach for the stars! Ill post the link to this interview as soon as it is up next week.
Hey Chris,
Use them and subvert them eh? Sounds like a revolution! Count me in ;-) Seriously, a couple of thoughts for you...I do think you have to figure out where your line is, how far are you willing to go to give young people a voice? The youtube audience is probably more tolerant to a 6 minute video than MTV is, corporate partners have their paradigms and their ways of doing things (right or wrong) and if you want to tap their power and reach - a good thing to do in my mind - you have to find a way to adapt your model to allow young people to have effective voices but you might have to find a way to help them do it in sharper soundbytes. hmmm.....so this brings up the question - where is your line, what are you ultimately trying to achieve? Quality or quantity and if its somewhere between the two, does it vary project by project, with the pure stuff "subsidizing" the more hybrid stuff?
On another note.... I LOVE the "villaged globe" expression - did you come up with that? April 2008? Hopefully the USA will be a better place by then and Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee!
oh yeah, one other thought. What about partnering with major broadcasters to finally cover major sport for change events like the Homeless World Cup. This stuff is as inspiring, or more, than any professional contest where a questionable number of the athletes are on human growth hormone (!) and to have you guys work with the athletes to tell their stories during the half time shoes, etc. would be awesome. And to tell their stories directly, to control the camera. I love what this could look like!
Hi Ziba, thanks for your comments. As you know, I'm part of the Insight team and have had personal experience of using Participatory Video to work with girls' football and disabled girls' sitball teams in Rwanda and so have seen first hand how rapidly we were able to enable the participants to tell their own stories and give their own perspectives on how sport has been helping them in their lives. What really interested me was how, by coming together to do sport, these teams of girls became a community themselves, a basis of friendship, support, learning and exchange, and I think that Participatory Video can also really enhance these bonds and enable an extra level of valuing and sharing of knowledge and innovations. I know that in Rwanda the girls' teams were also a learning ground for important messages about HIV/AIDS and it is in areas like this that I see PV adding an extra value - not only can the participants share their stories about sport, as you say, but they can also use the video to create other powerful messages for their peers, and to build links with each other across geographical divides. And when linked into sport itself, and with all the energy of team work and collaboration that sports teaches, these videos can carry all kinds of different impacts, not only for the participants themselves, but also for other young people and change makers at an international level.
Dom
Lunch,
Thank you very much for putting this up here, vital in showing the world out there true community engagement and empowerment. I agree with you,In many cases the people have the solutions and the messages are far more acceptable coming from within the community than coming from an outsider. As a PV Trainee, I have seen what people can do for themselves and their communities when given the chance, support and mentorship. Till today, nothing beats the feeling I had when handing over the camera to someone to film whatever they felt they wanted to capture. Thank you guys for your great initiative
Hi Kitso, Thanks for those words, as usual you hit the nail on the head! It was such a pleasure to spend that time in Namibia working and playing together. Im excited to hear your recent plans to build on this training and incorporate PV into the work you are doing in Botswana, hope you get the funds through. Good luck with all your dreams and plans and let me know if we can help in any way.
Chris
Having had the immense pleasure of working with both Chris and Nick on research projects in a number of countries, I am really delighted to see that the scope of the PV process is moving into further new and exciting directions.
I've seen first hand the power of the PV process in engaging and empowering so-called "difficult to reach groups" in diverse societies, when in many cases it is elected policy and decision makers that are too often the ones most isolated from reality. PV is one of the most powerful means I have so far come across to engage everyone, irrespective of education, class, or other social barriers on a level playing field (excuse the pun!).
Chris, Nick and the whole Insight team have been an inspiration to me in my work, helping me to realise that there are passionate people out there who do care, and who do want to help bring about change for the good of all.
Hi Grant,
Thanks for this great comment, you were also an inspiration for us, guiding us through the maze of working with large research institutions and working as hard as us in trying to shift traditional approaches to research and development. The shift is happening, so keep pushing!
All the best
Chris
Really impressed by the Insight participatory video (PV) training, I witnessed this in Namibia where I was working as part of the BBC Your Game team.
For me personally it has been very useful - I send the link to people who will never in a million years get round to reading a report on sport for development ...
Of course the important thing is the process, I like the way PV makes people realise that they can do what they always left up to other people. Does that make sense?
So even if a session doesn't produce the next generation of film makers, you can produce the next generation of people who are prepared to have a go, learn new skills, represent themselves and their communities, work as a team, understand how the media works a little ...
Keep up the good work.
thanks, Nick
ps - meet some of the trainees here: http://www.yourgame2010.com/profile or just have a look the Your Game 2010 website: it has been designed as a training ship for trainees to showcase their work, and reflect activities taking place at the Nex Step conference: http://www.yourgame2010.com
Hi Nick,
All these comments are so inspiring, thanks for adding yours. The website looks great. I hope we can develop something with yourgame in the future, and also with the BBC online i-learn system that you are helping develop. This is definitely part of our future strategy as it will help strengthen our trainings and compliment our PV handbook (downloadable as a pdf from our site).
May 2008 bring us together to realise some of these plans.
All the best
Chris
As someone who has benefitted from Insight training I am so glad to see you here on changemakers since you guys really are changemakers. By helping non techy folk get their hands on cameras and know how to show their own stories their own way ...you are helping the movement define itself and its points of reference in its own terms.
This is important so that our sport for social change projects do not get portrayed by the mass media as some sort of heroic project for the poor (false) or exotic project for some strange group (false) or some luxury when there are more demanding needs (false) but instead we have the chance to portray ourselves and bring peoples voice to the fore that are often neglected pushed aside and generally ignored.
I love how Insight keeps a tight ship and fast schedule but still leaves room for fun. I hope to join you guys for another workshop soon! Until then keep up the good work.
All the best from Berlin
Hc
Heather Cameron
Free University Berlin
University Challenge
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
Chris, thanks for the heads-up email regarding your proposal/project on Changemakers. I just reveiwed your proposal, viewed the sample video & went to the website - all I can say is...WOW! What your organization is doing is not only empowering for the young people who participate but it is truly inspirng for anyone who views their work that is accomplished through the process of PV. Your program is givng young people a chance to share their authentic voice and ideas in a very compelling and real way. Training them to capture and tell the stories that truly matter to them(and not what some academics or govenment officials or adults) will be a catalyst for social change. By telling these stories through ther voices, eyes and emotions, the young people will build their own bridges to the decision-makers who can impact their lives and the community's well-being.
I told a friend this week that it would be fantastic if there was an international gathering of some sort that provided a venue to tell the stories of sport for social change & have potential funders and businesses that are drawn to supporting this movement in attendance. So, in the same spirit as the World Economic Forum/Davos where they gather all of those influential luminaries but, imagine the gathering being for the purpose of propelling the sport for social change movement. I can imagine that your program could be a focal point of this forum with a sport for social change film festival with a philanthropic spin - a venue premiering a multitude of films from around the world on social topics that the young people of a given community have decided to discuss/share/solve via sport and play; attendees from the business world and interested governemnt would be viewing the projects to identify potential partnerships. I think the idea warrants some thought.
Congratulations on creating a platform for authentic & compelling stories to be shared!
Kevin,
I totally agree - it seems to me that the ESPN Tribeca film festival would be a good place to explore this opportunity. Chris and Insight have done amazing work, I have seen the reaction of the young people that go through this program and its the real thing. The other aspect of their work which is really important is that it shows impact which we have had such a difficult time doing with traditional evaluation methods. With sport-based programs, seeing is believing and my question is how to establish video as an acceptable form of evidence for the research geeks out there. Definitely would love to work on both these ideas! with you!
Hi Kevin, Thanks for your spot on comment. Im glad you can see the power of this process. Its true that this tool can be seen as a research medium for the masses, a way for people to go deeply into issues that matter to them, opening up to new perspectives as well as having their own heard. I also feel that whilst there is no question about the power of sport to engage and develop the groups they involve, it can be difficult in some cases to get participants to open themselves up and bring their lives onto the playing field. Video in the beneficiaries' hands can really help bring out the "other side of the game". It is a great way to open discussion and exploration of topics such as HIV, gender issues, human rights, poverty....and inspire action. Your film festival/social forum idea is wonderful. We have often talked about having mini film festivals during the final "consolidation" stage of capacity building (after groups have carried out their own PV work - chance for peer learning and exchange). This bigger picture is brilliant. Thanks for that and lets make it happen!
All the best
Chris
One of the greatest strengths of the PV method -- in addition to the products produced -- is its ability to get people involved right away, and to allow them to teach one another. This gives them an immediate sense of empowerment and ownership, which can be the gateway to greater things. I had the privilege of learning a bit more about Insight and PV via a recent writing assignment. Visit www.changemakers.net/node/2578 to learn a bit more about the ways PV can be used and the impact it has on everyone involved.
Thanks for that Jessica, and I would also recommend people check out the article you wrote, you clearly and simply laid out what PV can do in this context. Thats your gift!
Cheers Chris
Thankyou for your great initiative. Your vision is really well developed and Ive looked at your website and can see you guys are really way ahead on all of this. I loved the intro to PV film you have done, it really shows the power of this process.
This is exactly what we need in this field. I am a volunteer on a sports programme in Lancaster and have also visited other NGOs working with sport in Ghana and Zimbabwe. Everywhere I have seen the same problem, exactly as you describe: Inability to get the powerful stories out there. Also I can see your method is a process that would really help our programme, we have difficulty reaching the more marginal ethnic groups in our area. I see participatory video as a perfect way to bring in some of these groups, involve them, get to hear their needs and how we can serve them better and also spread awareness among them about what we are trying to do. Have you ever done anything like this before?
Hi and thanks for this!
I think you will love to read the case study we have on our website about using Participatory Video as a tool for community led consultation and reaching out to more marginal groups in the community. The project took place in Oxford and has many parallels with the work you are describing. Check it out and let me know if you have any further questions/thoughts: http://insightshare.org/case_study_Cowley_Road.html
All the best with your projects
Chris
It has been great to be part of this competition and I only wish we could continue editing our entry, I feel my vision has evolved loads recently and Id love to share some of the ideas with other changemakers and get feedback. So Im resorting to posting them as comments! I just read an entry about using SMS for information exchange. I was also thinking about using SMS more in our project. We train people from poor communities to use video to communicate their stories, ideas, projects and perspectives. We build local capacity so that they can continue to use this tool as a means of social mobilisation and advocacy. Id love to keep in touch with all the community members we train, directly. Currently we do this via our local NGO partners & email...but this is limited and hard to get a 2 way communication going. It would be great if these people who are on the other side of aid/development could be more involved in global debates and be able to contribute their perspectives and ideas more...they are the experts...not the development "specialists" & academics. I want to have a forum where people could send texts to individuals/beneficiaries directly & where they can feed in their views. Be great also for monitoring & evaluating projects and linking potential individual donors directly to beneficiaries. Each message could add enough credit to their phone so they can then text back some replies...is this technologically possible? I wonder if any phone company would be interested in supporting this idea? Anyone heard of anything similar?
Chris
Insight Director
Chris,
I hate to be the one to break this to you....but you can edit your entry (not now obviously) but throughout the competition....oh well, but next year, I am counting on you being a finalist!! I love the debate that has unfolded as well and am psyched that you have been on this journey with us!
Talk soon,
Z
No you couldn't actually change the entry after the initial entry phase was over and the judging began...and also cant change it now, be nice too and keep it as an evolving vision you can keep sending people to to look at and feed into..
ciao
c
c
Dear Chris!
I loved the PVtraining and would love to wrk with you and Insight as I develop course for undergraduates in educational science on evaluation and videotechniques.
Have you worked with unversities to train students before? Could you share some of your experiences?
Talk to you soon
hc
Heather Cameron
Free University Berlin
University Challenge
Hi Heather!
We conduct a yearly 5 day trainings at Winchester University for students and that works well. But so far in most cases students will come to our PV intro training in Oxford, UK (see our website for details). Lots of MA and PHD students are keen to learn how to use PV to incorporate into the research as a way of geting more authentic local involvement and encouraging comunity-led action research. They always learn a lot about attitudes and ethics through this work too as Participatory Video really is about handing over control and letting go, which we have found many researchers find difficult to do initially. Our Oxford 5 day course includes 1 day field work with local community charity /groups. We used the same model during our Winchester Uni training and it worked really well.
Hope this helps, we can talk more about this...
Cheers
Chris
Chris.
A little late for comments but this is definitely a great idea and we would love to see how we can support and be part of it. Having seen the work you guys did in Namibia, and talking to several of the youth you worked with, i have no doubt that some unbelievable work could happen soon.
Good luck Kieran
Thanks Kieran for your support. Lets see how we can work together on this in 2008, great to hear you guys at Commonwealth Games Association of Canada want to get involved. Will keep you posted.
All the best
Chris
Hi Chris,
My name is Christian Wach and I'm one of the founders of the Spirit of Football project. I thought I'd drop you a line to say how delighted I was to read Andrew's email describing your phone conversation. Andrew has been buzzing with ideas since he discovered your project here on Changemakers. As an anthropology graduate myself, I think what you're doing with PV is really valuable and it was great to read that you were so positive about our plans. It seems to me that there are exciting prospects for collaboration between our projects!
I also thought I'd let you know that we've updated our entry to include what we see as the mutually beneficial aspects of our collaboration in the run up to the World Cup in 2010 - and (we hope) for World Cups thereafter.
Look forward to speaking to you at some point.
Best regards,
Christian Wach
----
Spirit of Football - football's equivalent to the Olympic Torch
http://www.spiritoffootball.com
Hi Chris,
Thanks for this, I will check out your updated entry. Andrew spoke very positively about you and I love what you have been doing. I have had some more thoughts about the whole idea and Im looking forward to taking this further with you guys in 2008.
Cheers
Chris
Chris,
I was just reading the dimension dance entry (look under the dance entries) and thought that in terms of coming up with a sustainable financing strategy, maybe your model can be more sustainable if the organizations that invest to get the training/ skills can also use their video skills (perhaps less the participatory side of the training though) to record instructional videos and thereby recoup their investment by selling these videos. This will only work from orgs that have something to teach, e.g. curriculum or dance moves, etc.
But might be an interesting addition to the hub model.
Z
Hi Ziba,
I saw your comments on their entry and like where you are heading with that, an interesting new application which could add a new element. Hope to hear their thoughts about this from them directly.
All the best
Chris
Chris
I really think you can take this initiative to the next level. I think there is a deep link between sport and PV because there is no better way to demonstrate the power of sport than to see it and we need something like PV to show all the disbelievers out there that sport can be so much more than just recreation. On another note, I have been thinking a lot about the sport for development movement and believe that we are in effect creating an alternative to what has become the mainstream experience of sport. Extending this vision to the auxiliary industries that support the on-the-field aspect of sport will just accelerate the overall movement toward an alternative sports industry! It would be cool to think through how your work could be taken to scale and represent an alternative to traditional sports media portrayals?
z
Hi Ziba!
Thanks for your inspiring thoughts re: alternatives to traditional sports media portrayals. Ive been thinking about the vision you outline and in many ways it fits with our perspective which is that through participatory video we are in a way creating an antidote to the mass media machine. Working towards a media that is controlled by the people it portrays, that comes from the grassroots, that builds local pride and strengthens local values. This will help us move away from the largely disappointing vision (from a development and social change perspective) that has been portrayed as "the global village" and move us more firmly towards a far more exciting vision:"the villaged globe". I think the same applies to your point, if we are to create an alternative to mainstream sport and project a world where sport is about developing people and their communities then we need a new vehicle to do this. The global network of Participatory Video organisations outlined above in our competition entry could be this vehicle.
Of course nobody wants to do away with world class sport or the big media industry! We need to work together with these massive industries and in someway use them and subvert them with our creative interventions! The question is are they ready for this? In some cases they are. Desperately so! We need to connect with these big players, however we also must retain an authentic process and vision, it would be easy to have this distorted and repackaged in a way that ticks all their boxes yet fails the recipients themselves. So, as with many exciting visions, the idea holds opportunities and challenges. I have heard recently that MTV are very keen to hear the voice of the youth...this could be the prefect thing for them, perhaps you guys can help us with lining things up and making introduction? We are coming to the US in April 2008, so this is a great chance to meet up and make things real!
Cheers Chris
Hey Chris,
Use them and subvert them eh? Sounds like a revolution! Count me in ;-) Seriously, a couple of thoughts for you...I do think you have to figure out where your line is, how far are you willing to go to give young people a voice? The youtube audience is probably more tolerant to a 6 minute video than MTV is, corporate partners have their paradigms and their ways of doing things (right or wrong) and if you want to tap their power and reach - a good thing to do in my mind - you have to find a way to adapt your model to allow young people to have effective voices but you might have to find a way to help them do it in sharper soundbytes. hmmm.....so this brings up the question - where is your line, what are you ultimately trying to achieve? Quality or quantity and if its somewhere between the two, does it vary project by project, with the pure stuff "subsidizing" the more hybrid stuff?
On another note.... I LOVE the "villaged globe" expression - did you come up with that? April 2008? Hopefully the USA will be a better place by then and Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee!
oh yeah, one other thought. What about partnering with major broadcasters to finally cover major sport for change events like the Homeless World Cup. This stuff is as inspiring, or more, than any professional contest where a questionable number of the athletes are on human growth hormone (!) and to have you guys work with the athletes to tell their stories during the half time shoes, etc. would be awesome. And to tell their stories directly, to control the camera. I love what this could look like!
THanks for participating, great stuff!
Z
Hi Ziba,
The Villaged Globe term was not my own. Here is the full quote:
"When the global village came to India I saw how brutally we were oppressed by the values of the US media...so today I dont believe in the global village anymore. What I believe in is the villaged globe -where every village can produce its own programme and take it onto a global platform. Where, if you switch on the television on a tuesday morning, you will be probably watching programmes from the favellas of Brazil, and the afternoon you're seeing programmes from Tanzania, in the evening you're watching films from Pashtapur. I think that is television of the future for us -where the community defines its values and its visions to a global, villaged audience. Its not a wild dream. All it needs is for a group of committed people to come together, share this vision." from PV Sateesh - based in India. This came from an interview I did recently with him. He is definitely a changemaker, one of the older generation Participatory Video pioneers who has inspired us a lot. We are going to put this interview live soon on our new pV portal site, where we are linking PV practitioners from around the world. 1st step towards the vision described in the entry above! The pilot site will be live next month. PV Sateesh is also outlining another exciting goal for our collective vision: a satellite which beams participatory video films to viewers and villages around the world...yes..this is becoming a real possibility if we can inspire people to donate to this aim...why not reach for the stars! Ill post the link to this interview as soon as it is up next week.
Hey Chris,
Use them and subvert them eh? Sounds like a revolution! Count me in ;-) Seriously, a couple of thoughts for you...I do think you have to figure out where your line is, how far are you willing to go to give young people a voice? The youtube audience is probably more tolerant to a 6 minute video than MTV is, corporate partners have their paradigms and their ways of doing things (right or wrong) and if you want to tap their power and reach - a good thing to do in my mind - you have to find a way to adapt your model to allow young people to have effective voices but you might have to find a way to help them do it in sharper soundbytes. hmmm.....so this brings up the question - where is your line, what are you ultimately trying to achieve? Quality or quantity and if its somewhere between the two, does it vary project by project, with the pure stuff "subsidizing" the more hybrid stuff?
On another note.... I LOVE the "villaged globe" expression - did you come up with that? April 2008? Hopefully the USA will be a better place by then and Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee!
oh yeah, one other thought. What about partnering with major broadcasters to finally cover major sport for change events like the Homeless World Cup. This stuff is as inspiring, or more, than any professional contest where a questionable number of the athletes are on human growth hormone (!) and to have you guys work with the athletes to tell their stories during the half time shoes, etc. would be awesome. And to tell their stories directly, to control the camera. I love what this could look like!
THanks for participating, great stuff!
Z
Hi Ziba, thanks for your comments. As you know, I'm part of the Insight team and have had personal experience of using Participatory Video to work with girls' football and disabled girls' sitball teams in Rwanda and so have seen first hand how rapidly we were able to enable the participants to tell their own stories and give their own perspectives on how sport has been helping them in their lives. What really interested me was how, by coming together to do sport, these teams of girls became a community themselves, a basis of friendship, support, learning and exchange, and I think that Participatory Video can also really enhance these bonds and enable an extra level of valuing and sharing of knowledge and innovations. I know that in Rwanda the girls' teams were also a learning ground for important messages about HIV/AIDS and it is in areas like this that I see PV adding an extra value - not only can the participants share their stories about sport, as you say, but they can also use the video to create other powerful messages for their peers, and to build links with each other across geographical divides. And when linked into sport itself, and with all the energy of team work and collaboration that sports teaches, these videos can carry all kinds of different impacts, not only for the participants themselves, but also for other young people and change makers at an international level.
Dom
Lunch,
Thank you very much for putting this up here, vital in showing the world out there true community engagement and empowerment. I agree with you,In many cases the people have the solutions and the messages are far more acceptable coming from within the community than coming from an outsider. As a PV Trainee, I have seen what people can do for themselves and their communities when given the chance, support and mentorship. Till today, nothing beats the feeling I had when handing over the camera to someone to film whatever they felt they wanted to capture. Thank you guys for your great initiative
Hi Kitso, Thanks for those words, as usual you hit the nail on the head! It was such a pleasure to spend that time in Namibia working and playing together. Im excited to hear your recent plans to build on this training and incorporate PV into the work you are doing in Botswana, hope you get the funds through. Good luck with all your dreams and plans and let me know if we can help in any way.
Chris
Having had the immense pleasure of working with both Chris and Nick on research projects in a number of countries, I am really delighted to see that the scope of the PV process is moving into further new and exciting directions.
I've seen first hand the power of the PV process in engaging and empowering so-called "difficult to reach groups" in diverse societies, when in many cases it is elected policy and decision makers that are too often the ones most isolated from reality. PV is one of the most powerful means I have so far come across to engage everyone, irrespective of education, class, or other social barriers on a level playing field (excuse the pun!).
Chris, Nick and the whole Insight team have been an inspiration to me in my work, helping me to realise that there are passionate people out there who do care, and who do want to help bring about change for the good of all.
As ever, All the Best
Grant Davidson
The Macaulay Institute
Hi Grant,
Thanks for this great comment, you were also an inspiration for us, guiding us through the maze of working with large research institutions and working as hard as us in trying to shift traditional approaches to research and development. The shift is happening, so keep pushing!
All the best
Chris
Really impressed by the Insight participatory video (PV) training, I witnessed this in Namibia where I was working as part of the BBC Your Game team.
For me personally it has been very useful - I send the link to people who will never in a million years get round to reading a report on sport for development ...
Of course the important thing is the process, I like the way PV makes people realise that they can do what they always left up to other people. Does that make sense?
So even if a session doesn't produce the next generation of film makers, you can produce the next generation of people who are prepared to have a go, learn new skills, represent themselves and their communities, work as a team, understand how the media works a little ...
Keep up the good work.
thanks, Nick
ps - meet some of the trainees here: http://www.yourgame2010.com/profile or just have a look the Your Game 2010 website: it has been designed as a training ship for trainees to showcase their work, and reflect activities taking place at the Nex Step conference: http://www.yourgame2010.com
Hi Nick,
All these comments are so inspiring, thanks for adding yours. The website looks great. I hope we can develop something with yourgame in the future, and also with the BBC online i-learn system that you are helping develop. This is definitely part of our future strategy as it will help strengthen our trainings and compliment our PV handbook (downloadable as a pdf from our site).
May 2008 bring us together to realise some of these plans.
All the best
Chris
we are well on our way to transforming the sport industry!! Who is missing from this debate/ dialogue do you think?
Hi Chris! Hi everybody at Insight!
As someone who has benefitted from Insight training I am so glad to see you here on changemakers since you guys really are changemakers. By helping non techy folk get their hands on cameras and know how to show their own stories their own way ...you are helping the movement define itself and its points of reference in its own terms.
This is important so that our sport for social change projects do not get portrayed by the mass media as some sort of heroic project for the poor (false) or exotic project for some strange group (false) or some luxury when there are more demanding needs (false) but instead we have the chance to portray ourselves and bring peoples voice to the fore that are often neglected pushed aside and generally ignored.
I love how Insight keeps a tight ship and fast schedule but still leaves room for fun. I hope to join you guys for another workshop soon! Until then keep up the good work.
All the best from Berlin
Hc
Heather Cameron
Free University Berlin
University Challenge
Hi Heather,
Thanks for taking the time to check this out and for your great words!
I too hope we can join up again soon!
Cheers Chris
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
Chris, thanks for the heads-up email regarding your proposal/project on Changemakers. I just reveiwed your proposal, viewed the sample video & went to the website - all I can say is...WOW! What your organization is doing is not only empowering for the young people who participate but it is truly inspirng for anyone who views their work that is accomplished through the process of PV. Your program is givng young people a chance to share their authentic voice and ideas in a very compelling and real way. Training them to capture and tell the stories that truly matter to them(and not what some academics or govenment officials or adults) will be a catalyst for social change. By telling these stories through ther voices, eyes and emotions, the young people will build their own bridges to the decision-makers who can impact their lives and the community's well-being.
I told a friend this week that it would be fantastic if there was an international gathering of some sort that provided a venue to tell the stories of sport for social change & have potential funders and businesses that are drawn to supporting this movement in attendance. So, in the same spirit as the World Economic Forum/Davos where they gather all of those influential luminaries but, imagine the gathering being for the purpose of propelling the sport for social change movement. I can imagine that your program could be a focal point of this forum with a sport for social change film festival with a philanthropic spin - a venue premiering a multitude of films from around the world on social topics that the young people of a given community have decided to discuss/share/solve via sport and play; attendees from the business world and interested governemnt would be viewing the projects to identify potential partnerships. I think the idea warrants some thought.
Congratulations on creating a platform for authentic & compelling stories to be shared!
Kevin,
I totally agree - it seems to me that the ESPN Tribeca film festival would be a good place to explore this opportunity. Chris and Insight have done amazing work, I have seen the reaction of the young people that go through this program and its the real thing. The other aspect of their work which is really important is that it shows impact which we have had such a difficult time doing with traditional evaluation methods. With sport-based programs, seeing is believing and my question is how to establish video as an acceptable form of evidence for the research geeks out there. Definitely would love to work on both these ideas! with you!
Chris - awesome job!
Cheers,
Z
Hi Kevin, Thanks for your spot on comment. Im glad you can see the power of this process. Its true that this tool can be seen as a research medium for the masses, a way for people to go deeply into issues that matter to them, opening up to new perspectives as well as having their own heard. I also feel that whilst there is no question about the power of sport to engage and develop the groups they involve, it can be difficult in some cases to get participants to open themselves up and bring their lives onto the playing field. Video in the beneficiaries' hands can really help bring out the "other side of the game". It is a great way to open discussion and exploration of topics such as HIV, gender issues, human rights, poverty....and inspire action. Your film festival/social forum idea is wonderful. We have often talked about having mini film festivals during the final "consolidation" stage of capacity building (after groups have carried out their own PV work - chance for peer learning and exchange). This bigger picture is brilliant. Thanks for that and lets make it happen!
All the best
Chris
One of the greatest strengths of the PV method -- in addition to the products produced -- is its ability to get people involved right away, and to allow them to teach one another. This gives them an immediate sense of empowerment and ownership, which can be the gateway to greater things. I had the privilege of learning a bit more about Insight and PV via a recent writing assignment. Visit www.changemakers.net/node/2578 to learn a bit more about the ways PV can be used and the impact it has on everyone involved.
Thanks for that Jessica, and I would also recommend people check out the article you wrote, you clearly and simply laid out what PV can do in this context. Thats your gift!
Cheers Chris
Chris,
Thankyou for your great initiative. Your vision is really well developed and Ive looked at your website and can see you guys are really way ahead on all of this. I loved the intro to PV film you have done, it really shows the power of this process.
This is exactly what we need in this field. I am a volunteer on a sports programme in Lancaster and have also visited other NGOs working with sport in Ghana and Zimbabwe. Everywhere I have seen the same problem, exactly as you describe: Inability to get the powerful stories out there. Also I can see your method is a process that would really help our programme, we have difficulty reaching the more marginal ethnic groups in our area. I see participatory video as a perfect way to bring in some of these groups, involve them, get to hear their needs and how we can serve them better and also spread awareness among them about what we are trying to do. Have you ever done anything like this before?
Thanks and good luck!
yours
Pogle
Hi and thanks for this!
I think you will love to read the case study we have on our website about using Participatory Video as a tool for community led consultation and reaching out to more marginal groups in the community. The project took place in Oxford and has many parallels with the work you are describing. Check it out and let me know if you have any further questions/thoughts: http://insightshare.org/case_study_Cowley_Road.html
All the best with your projects
Chris