project The role of Participatory Video in amplifying children's voices on climate change
theme: voice and participation
This research explores the use of Participatory Video (PV) as a tool for conducting Participatory Vulnerability Assessments. In particular it tries to identify how PV can help communities explore how climate change is impacting them and make their voices heard by policy-makers.
project particulars
co-ordinator: Tom Mitchell, IDS
partners: Institute of Development Studies, ActionAid UK, ActionAid Nepal
researchers: Tamara Plush, IDS
duration: 2008
funders: ActionAid
countries: Nepal
overview
IDS student and professional video producer Tamara Plush is working with ActionAid Nepal to study how to amplify the voices of the poor and excluded in decision making around climate change adaptation so they can influence decisions that improve their livelihoods.
In Nepal, climate change will be relevant to 2008 policy making since the government has committed to completing their National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), which builds capacity for addressing urgent and immediate adaptation needs.
The research is determining if new, affordable video technologies can be used to help the community, including children, identify risks and develop adaptation strategies, and also as part of citizen-led advocacy efforts that help the community more easily and effectively engage with decision-makers.
The project is currently in monitoring phase to look at how the training is contributing to change within the villages and how the outputs are being used to amplify their voices on climate change.
key findings
The participatory videos made by the children have gathered evidence about how the changing climate is impacting their lives and the livelihoods of their families.
The children reported that the changing climate:
is creating unpredictable weather patterns which impacts the livelihoods of the children's families:
is affecting the health of the children, particularly an increase in water-borne diseases during prolonged flooding.
is creating more weather-related disasters. such as landslides, which impacts the children's education:
is increasing weather-related disasters which affect the children's emotional well being, especially when they lose family members.
is increasing droughts and limiting the children's access to water.
The children also know what they need in order to adapt their lives to a changing climate. They are calling for:
a stop to deforestation
access to improved agricultural technologies
improved basic infrastructure
improved awareness of climate change
good disaster risk reduction.
The children and community members are now using the participatory videos as advocacy tools to influence local and national climate change policy in Nepal. An evaluation of the effectiveness of this method will be available here in mid 2009.
project documents
Child Voices: Children of Nepal Speak Out on Climate Change Adaptation (PDF 3,031KB)
