Plenary session: Participatory Video

1. Plenary session: Participatory Video • Building Block session:

2. What is the unique value proposition of this building block / Why do we need this for our CRPs? • Collaborative, rather than extractive- can help to address research fatigue • Enables horizontal/Peer-to-peer knowledge sharing • and vertical communication from communities to decision makers • Enables community definition of issues and analysis- useful starting point for research processes • Can be used regardless of literacy levels • Not just about making a film, the process is also important- acts as a catalyst for community-driven change • Setting indicators from farmer perspectives, integrate into M&E • Creates feedback loops that can inform the project cycle • Scaling-up: sharing best practices, disseminating ideas between communities domestically or internationally Building block: Participatory Video

3. Who is already doing some work around this, how, with what success? • InsightShare- leaders in the PV field, global experience, well-developed methodology (www.insightshare.org) • NileBDC—increasing community representation in local innovation platforms, Ethiopia (www.nilebdc.org) • Digital Green-knowledge dissemination and training, Global application • (www.digitalgreen.org) Building block: Participatory Video

4. What are principles/critical success factors/interventions/actions needed to take advantage of this BB? • Dynamic tool that excites communities, but danger of raising expectations (essential to consider long-term sustainability and access to equipment) • Time consuming—perceived as easy but rushing creates token efforts at community participation • Facilitators should ensure participants have some sort of incentive- don’t just assume they want to be involved, incentives may be different depending on the context • Projects can be hijacked by more powerful actors—awareness of context and power dynamics is essential • People may have good reasons for not wanting to document/share their knowledge • Danger of using PV as an advocacy tool in places where it is not possible due to political environment Building block: Participatory Video

5. What were main discussion points? • How could PV be utilized in the CRPs? • Will depend on the CRP in question, some more community-driven, others take more of a classic research approach • Different potential applications of PV depending on the research approach and issues in question- requires a creative approach • PV for M&E- farmers should be able to create indicators, PV used to develop feedback loops which can inform project cycle • PV not applicable or necessary for every situation- no point using PV if you can use PRA tools and get similar results. Depends on purpose and context • Tools like PV raise important considerations for research approaches- need to think critically about why/how we do research • What are the potential challenges involved in using PV? • Details for time frames and budgets need to be clear • Researchers may have varying understandings of how to use video and may just see it as another tool for tech/knowledge transfer • Comms teams may be concerned by quality of results • Ethical issues surrounding intellectual property and repackaging community products for researcher/comms purposes • Multiple stages of consent needed • What support is needed to utilize PV as a tool for research? • Capacity building for researchers to work with such tool • Important to work with local partners and NGOs who have experience and skills in development work and facilitation/community engagement Building block: Participatory Video