• Programmes
  
  
• Forests and livelihoods
  
  
• Coastal and marine governance and livelihoods
  
  
• Climate change and disaster risk reduction
  
  
• Civil society and governance
  
  
• Strategy programmes
  • Research
    
    
  • Action Research and Learning
    
    
  • Communication
    
    
  • Capacity-building
    
    
  • Internal governance and operational systems

STRATEGY PROGRAMMES

Communication programme

Programme rationale

Effective communication of knowledge gained from CANARI’s research and experience is important both to build awareness, understanding and commitment and to influence policy and practice.  Communication needs to be appropriate to the needs of different target audiences.  CANARI seeks to create channels for effective two-way communication and networking.

Programme purpose

Participatory natural resource governance approaches enshrined in policy and practice for natural resources management.

Programme goal

To effectively communicate knowledge to build awareness, understanding and commitment of stakeholders and to influence policy for participatory natural resource governance in CANARI’s programmes and projects.

Programme objectives

1. To develop and implement a communication strategy to guide systematic and strategic communications in CANARI’s programmes and projects, including via:
   1. using internet-based and mobile communication tools;
   2. developing publications targeted at specific audiences.
2. To develop and use a communications research framework to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of communication by CANARI and others to determine the most appropriate strategies to reach key target audiences.
3. To explore and test new and innovative communication tools.

 Priority programme results 2011-2016

1. Communication strategy developed outlining key target audiences for awareness-building and advocacy, including regional technical inter-governmental bodies and Secretariats, government agencies with responsibility for natural resource management, government agencies working in social and community development and poverty alleviation, leading NGOs at the local, national and regional level, key international partners involved in Caribbean programmes and policy initiatives, academic institutions in the Caribbean, and rural communities dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods
2. Communication products developed and disseminated to key target audiences including:
   1. Restructured CANARI’s website to be more user-friendly to a variety of audiences and more comprehensive in its coverage of CANARI’s work
   2. CANARI technical reports, policy briefs, guidelines, toolkits and other publications to communicate knowledge from CANARI’s research to different target audiences
   3. Innovative communication tools such as participatory video, radio dramas and magazines, mobile phones, and social media
3. Communication research framework developed and evaluations conducted on the impact of selected communication initiatives to enhance understanding of what communication products and pathways are most effective to reach key target audiences in the Caribbean island context.

Recent and current projects 

• Participatory forest management: Improving policy and institutional capacity for development (2011)

Forests, Livelihoods and Governance Programme

The final activity of this five year project involved testing communication products to promote participatory forest management and included the development of a newspaper article series, radio magazine series and posters

• Participatory video: An advocacy tool to help the Blanchisseuse fishing community to communicate their challenges and develop partnerships to solve them (2011) 

Coastal and Marine Livelihoods and Governance Programme 

The main activity of this project involved facilitated sessions to provide guidance to fishers in the development of the "Fish for Gas" participatory video

• Building civil society capacity for conservation in the Caribbean UK Overseas Territories (2009-2012) 

Civil Society and Governance Programme 

Communication priorities were identified in this project, which developed case studies, and a communication toolkit for civil society organisations working in biodiversity conservation and other communication products

• Pilot project: community action to build climate change resilience in Trinidad and Tobago (2012) 

Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction

This one-year project featured training in the use of participatory video and participatory photojournal to communicate with stakeholders on climate change impacts in the community of Caura Valley.

• Post-2015 Advocacy