Rare pride campaigns: Evaluating participatory communication in conservation efforts throughout Indonesia.

摘要

Communication scholars who study international development and social change have found that if facilitators of social change hope to find positive, lasting solutions to complex social and environmental issues, they must incorporate more participatory approaches. However, even the practitioners with the most noble intentions oftentimes fall short of facilitating truly participatory practices because their strategies are the product of linear processes for evaluating the change context. In this study, I apply Lennie and Tacchi's (2014) approach to evaluating communication for development in a case study of Pride Campaigns implemented by managers throughout Indonesia who partnered with the conservation non-governmental organization (NGO), Rare. I focus on the ways in which Pride Campaign Managers (PCMs) conceptualize their roles in the development, implementation, and outcomes of Pride Campaigns, as well as on the scope and breadth of participation that is generated throughout the campaign process, from start to finish. Emergent findings suggest that Rare's Theory of Change (ToC) model provides overly assumptive connections between campaign activities and conservation results, while PCM conceptualizations revealed different interpretations leading to a variety of practices which emerge in the change process. Practices, such as asking community members about their needs, promoting emergent knowledge through dialogue, and stimulating physical involvement in handling campaign materials all appear to promote participatory communication. On the contrary, practices that emphasize the linear delivery of packaged conservation messages without any opportunities for collaboration among stakeholders appear to diminish participatory communication.