For the past three weeks I have been participating in the Advocacy and Citizen Engagement at Coady International Institute. Participants are from all over the world and from middle and upper management levels. Their diverse experience and the interactive nature of the course makes it a valuable learning experience in the theory and practice of advocacy.
As described in the course syllabus – the certificate course is “designed to enhance the capacity of civil society to influence decision-makers and policy makers by building the constituency for change and mobilizing public opinion around issues of common concern.” It included power, politics, participation and governance and introduced a planning framework. The group participated in writing advocacy goals and objectives, doing a stakeholder analysis, and identifying constituents and targets. During the course strategies, tactics and tools were discussed with case studies, films and examples.
The film “Voices Unheard” was presented as an example of an advocacy communications tool, and Denise Davies led a discussion and overview of the planning process for a film and steps in producing a film. Several films were used throughout the course that presented powerful communications messages for advocacy. Films are a communication tool – and to be effective should be built into the advocacy strategy and tactics.
This is a valuable course and a real adult learning experience. Future course dates are listed on the Coady website in the certificate section. Advocacy and Citizen Engagement
