Participatory communication requires, first and foremost, changes in the way “communicators” think, Jan Servaes & Patchanee Malikhao.
Let's start with a brief definition of communication according to Paulo Freire, a Latin American educator. It is understood as the exchange of information between various parties, with the aim of transmitting or receiving ideas, opinions, or thoughts. Likewise, it focuses on a participatory model that involves multiplicity, promoting cultural identity and unhindered participation.
This is where participatory communication breaks that ideal of linearity, which creates limitations in connecting the communicator with audiences, with the purpose of facilitating the reciprocal generation of ideas, knowledge, and experiences at all levels.
“The process of democratic social interaction, which is based on the exchange of symbols by which human beings voluntarily share their experiences under conditions of free and egalitarian access, dialogue, and participation,” (Beltrán, L. 1979).
In order to effectively promote communication experiences and delve into different approaches to it, it is essential to understand that participation is an important component during decision-making processes, where the aim is to promote diversity and plurality within communicative research towards active participation.
It is for this reason that communication must be executed through relationships with all active entities in society, participation, and decision-making in situations that represent the socioeconomic, cultural, and political environments of the context one wishes to reach.
Considering the above, it is understood that participatory communication encompasses a broader and more flexible process that promotes the possibility of encouraging the freedom to communicate information to answer a question, without limiting expression.
From the perspective of participatory communication, social communicators must begin to understand people from their unique characteristics, beliefs, contexts, dynamics, among others, as the core of development for individual and community improvement through methods, practices, and programs that promote balance.
Benefits of Participatory Communication:
- It allows for the production of new social relationships.
- Encourages thinking about new ways to reach audiences.
- Understand local needs and realities through dialogue and context analysis.
Taking up the first sentence of this blog and understanding the perspective of the “New Communicator” developed by Jan Servaes, a professor at the University of Massachusetts considered one of the foremost specialists in communication for sustainable development, “Communicators must be prepared to respond to new forms of participation, based on knowledge of the communities, their culture, values, and beliefs, with the purpose of creating communication strategies in an increasingly global world.".
Valery Bayter Uscátegui
Senior Account Executive
