Future Brief 1: The history of communication by and about development cooperation
Hopeful & inclusive storytelling
When stories about development cooperation make use of constructive and hopeful frames, there appears to be more involvement and support for the work of development organisations and their partners. Victim frames, stereotypes or doom scenarios are demotivating in the longer term and do not do justice to the people involved and the results achieved.
Hope-based communication
Research shows that a hopeful communication message makes organisations and citizens feel more involved in solving problems and that there is active cooperation in sustainable development. That is why we focus strongly on hope-based communications. A hope-based strategy is needed to create more support for international solidarity and work against power structures that undermine social, fair and sustainable development.
Inclusive communication
We started a community of practice (CoP) on Inclusive Communication to explore in which ways we can make our communication work more ethical, inclusive and just in all senses. Not only through the stories we tell, or the words and images we use, but also in our ways of working with our international partners and communities involved. Learning more about inclusive communication is needed to improve the current language, images and communication working methods.
Values, strategy & activities
Partos stands for sending hopeful & inclusive messages, showing impact & results, and building commitment on an equal base for sustainable development. The strategy focuses on connecting on the basis of universal values, as well as implementing a joint solution-oriented approach to problems. Therefore, we facilitate a process in which members and their partners can learn and develop hope-based, inclusive communication strategies through various activities and (research) labs. Together with members and partners, we can create more awareness, support and engagement in society for inclusive and sustainable development worldwide.
This Future Brief takes both a historical and cultural approach. We will demonstrate that communication about and by development cooperation and humanitarian aid is part and parcel of the unequal power relations established by colonialism and development. In doing so, this brief discusses the history and the current debate on humanitarian communication in order to understand the present and move ahead towards a future with more ethical, inclusive and equitable communication. It looks into language, meaning and power, the imagery debate, communication codes, stereotypes and provides a wide range of resources.
Future Brief 2 – Storytelling genres in humanitarian communication
This Future Brief explores how communication by and about development cooperation and humanitarian aid has been shaped by and in genres that all bring in their own storytelling challenges and opportunities. In doing so, this brief discusses some of the most common genres used in the sector in order to better understand the complexities of storytelling and what are, then, the solutions to these storytelling challenges in humanitarian communication? How can we make our campaigns more ethical, inclusive and equitable? The answers to these questions must be sought in a practice of communication in which values such as solidarity, equality and justice are made central. Campaigns that are steeped in the complexity, history and politics, and based on the agency, dignity and humanity of vulnerable people in the global South, are able to contribute to a more just global society. Particularly, two umbrella strategies could be used in the pursuit of ethical, inclusive and equitable communication: postcolonial criticism and participatory storytelling.
Future Brief 3 – Communication in development cooperation
This is the third and final Future Brief in the trilogy about humanitarian communication. Here, we discuss the role of production processes in humanitarian communication and highlight how not only representations, but also productions of international solidarity can become more ethical, inclusive, and equitable. We propose three modes of shifting the power in content production: on the level of INGOs and their partner organisations (the institutional mode); on the level of (the work of) creative agencies, artists, and professionals who are close to the projects that are represented (the creative mode); and, finally, on the level of civil society organisations, community activists and ordinary citizens activists who are part of the projects (the civic mode).