The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Edutainment: Using Stories and Media for Social Action and Behaviour Change

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Author

  • Esca Scheepers
  • Michael Jana
  • Harriet Perlman (ed.)
  • Sarah Delius
Produced by the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, this manual shares perspectives and insights about edutainment, using popular entertainment formats to tackle serious social issues. The manual is designed for media practitioners and social activists who wish to use the power of entertainment and mass media to promote health, human rights, and social justice. Drawing on successful stories and case studies from Africa and elsewhere, this manual "is designed to inspire, give fresh ideas, and share experiences of interesting edutainment programmes."
According to the authors, "stories and mass media entertainment programmes have been widely used throughout the world as a powerful means to educate, inform, and influence social and individual change. The field known as edutainment uses popular entertainment formats to tackle serious social issues in a bold and entertaining way. Stories can draw audiences into the centre of an issue, move people emotionally and catalyse discussion and debate". As stated in the manual, "media and popular culture influence us in many different ways. Edutainment is a way to harness its enormous potential to influence individuals and society in a positive way."
The manual contains the following chapters:
  • Chapter 1: What is edutainment
  • Chapter 2: An overview of edutainment activities
  • Chapter 3: Building partnerships
  • Chapter 4: Qualitative formative audiences research
  • Chapter 5: Choosing your edutainment media and format
  • Chapter 6: Creating a total communication strategy
  • Chapter 7: Developing the message and story
  • Chapter 8: Marketing and promoting your edutainment
  • Chapter 9: Evaluation
The manual was produced as part of the Pop Culture with a Purpose Project. In 2010, Oxfam Novib, Puntos de Encuentro, Breakthrough, the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, and The Communication Initiative formed a global partnership in social communication and edutainment which aims to scale up edutainment strategies.
This manual is based on "Edutainment - How to Make Edutainment Work For You", written by Garth Japhet.
Languages

English

Number of Pages

148

Source
Email from Katinka Moonen of Oxfam Novib to The Communication Initiative on March 3 2014 and Soul City website, March 10 2014 and February 14 2022.
PDFLink
Click here for the manual in PDF format.
Click here to download an interactive version of this manual in PDF format.