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Campaigning for Social Change & Advocacy

Dance4LifeRNW Media

Short summary 

Planning a successful campaign entails more than just assembling its moving pieces. Campaigns require a clear vision and a shared understanding of the issue you are tackling. What kind of change are you trying to enact and how will a campaign help you make that change? Campaigns also involve gathering and analysing data, monitoring opposition and trends, creating and managing content, testing ideas and assumptions, and evaluating performance. When striving for progressive SRHR for young people, the support and buy-in from parents, teachers, policy makers, progressive religious leaders and other key persons in the society is of great importance. Sensitization and engagement of these groups so that they are aware of the campaign, support it and potentially even actively drive it will create that critical mass that you need to really work towards social change. People-powered campaigns value every individual's potential to achieve something greater than they ever could manage on their own and build collective power in the process. 

What capacity strengthening support can we provide on this topic?  

A Campaign Lab that focuses on strengthening the participant's understanding of the added value and role of campaigning to work on social change/advocacy and strengthens their campaigning skills. This is a highly interactive and collaborative planning process. It blends learning from best practices with campaign design methodologies to energize engagement and spark creativity. It works with proven strategy tools, design thinking, and participatory approaches to problem solving.  

The training strengthens the participants’ capacity to engage the public, stimulates an iterative process of campaign design and helps participants increase their campaign’s relevance, reach & impact. It also provides guidance on campaigns that aim to influence key stakeholders and decision-makers for the purpose of advocacy. 

What could the CS look like?  

  1. A 5-day in person, blended or online Campaign Lab in which through creative exercises and human-centred methodologies participants will be guided in completing a Campaign Canvas from which their campaign is born.  
  2. Dance4Life’s 6-week blended Campaigning for Social Change e-learning journey with a 3 hour a week time investment or RNW Media’s self-guided & time-flexible e-learning Campaign Toolbox. Both offer interactive learning through different formats such as videos, real life examples and quizzes.  
  3. If there is interest in diving deeper into social norms research to inform campaign design, this can be added as a day training by Rutgers.  

What tools are available?  

  • The Campaign Canvas 
  • E-learning journey with learning content, case studies & practical templates
  • Target audience mapping & personal tools 

What languages can this CS support be provided in?  English and French 

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