Participatory video: Open house seminar at CTA on 17 April 2006

Video has started to be considered as a crucial tool in recent years as, technological developments and reductions in cost have made it more accessible for Southern organizations to use video to capitalize their experiences, share their knowledge and promote their work.

CTA has for the last couple of years been working with video to sensitize wide audience on key agricultural messages as well as supporting partners to share best practices. An issue of ICT update recently showcased various initiatives using participative video and gave Chris Lunch (Insight, a reference for PV www.insightshare.org) the opportunity to clarify a few things about it. We have also received many requests and feedback from our partners who want to know more about PV and are very interested in using video in their projects.

What is the difference between traditional video and PV? How can communities work with PV and how can we successfully document local knowledge and share it with a wider audience? What are the results of PV and what can an organization achieve through this process?

To answer these questions and in response to the increasing interest most of us share on video and PV, CTA is organizing an Open house seminar in Wageningen on April 17th and one day training on PV on April 18th.

We would like to have with us other organizations already dealing with video or/and sharing a common interest to include video or PV in their work.

The general idea is to create the conditions to discover and understand PV, exchange our experiences on what can be achieved through video and launch an informal network of organizations using video for development in their projects.

Day 1 April 17^th Session 1 Open house seminar 10h30 – 13h00

General presentation of PV by Chris Lunch followed by discussions

April 17^th Session 2 Sharing experiences 14h00 – 16h00

Platform for organisations willing to present either their experience with video (description of the experience, purpose, target group, result, main constraints and if time screening) or their concrete plan to use video for dev (goal, means, partners, expected results) 10 minutes per presentation. Even if you are using video just for PR, you should still come and share your experience although the focus of the meeting is looking at issues of sensitisation, knowledge sharing and community empowerment.

April 18^th Day 2 Training on PV (10h00 – 18h00)

This session targets a smaller group (maximum 20 participants) to have a hands-on experience of PV methodology and tools with Chris Lunch. See attached document to see what Chris Lunch proposed. Places are free and limited so book them quickly! Download booking form at: http://www.insightshare.org/pdfs/1 day PV Booking Form

Contact: bel@cta.int if you wish to attend Day 1. Send booking forms to clunch@insightshare.org if you wish to attend Day 2.

Have a look at OneWorldTV's interview series focussing on individuals and orgs at the cutting edge of using video as a tool for social change.

Podcast Details - http://tv.oneworld.net/section/podcasts
YouTube - http://youtube.com/watch?v=NhGdHk9YawE

International Conference on Biofuels in Africa

International Conference on Biofuels in Africa to take place 5-7 November 2007 at the Pavilion Conference Centre, Cape Town, South Africa.
More Information.

Consultancy assignments in West Africa

Consultancy assignments to conduct an assessment of agricultural information needs for CTA’s products and services in ACP West Africa (English & French speaking)

The Technical Centre for Rural and Agricultural Cooperation (CTA) urgently requires expressions of interest from nationals of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and European Union (EU) states for the above-mentioned assignments. The project profile is included in section 4 below.

Thirteen (13) national consultants and one (1) regional coordinator are required to undertake the assignment in:

English speaking: Cape Verde , Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria
French speaking: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania,
Niger, Senegal, Togo

N.B. Ghana, Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone already covered under previous studies.

Closing date Friday, 30 March 2007.

Further information here