WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: Why combine Behaviour Change and Social Change?

(This post is inspired by what I learned off this UNICEF website.)

Even though Behaviour Change and Social Change are fundamentally distinct fields, UNICEF explains in this website that their organization is inclined to an inter-disciplinary approach that combines techniques from both fields. 

This is because they believe a combination of both approaches helps to ensure meaningful change is sustained as they seek to define and address individual, interpersonal and social influences in life.

As mentioned in the last blog, whereas Behaviour Change strategies often focus on the individual as the locus of change; Social Change approaches primarily focus on the community as the unit of change.

Photo: Google images

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: One difference between Behaviour Change and Social Change

(This post is inspired by what I learned off the UNICEF-global website.)

Whereas Behaviour Change and Social Change are complementary approaches that are utilized to give meaning to and address individual, interpersonal and social influences in life, they are inherently distinct fields.

According the UNICEF-global website, Behaviour Change is commonly defined as:

• a research-based
• consultative process
• for addressing knowledge, attitudes and practices
• that are intrinsically linked to programme goals.

In conclusion: Behaviour Change strategies often focus on the individual as the locus of change.

 On the other hand, the website defines Social Change as:

• a process of transformation
• in the way society is organized
• within social and political institutions
• and in the distribution of power within those institutions.

In conclusion: Social Change approaches primarily focus on the community as the unit of change.




Photos: Google Images

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: Top 5 "technical skills" every Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) specialist should possess

(This post is inspired by a discussion I had with one of my mentors, Sean Southey.)

NOTE: These are skills you learn from DOING not STUDYING. You need to constantly refine the core-elemental skills listed below. They should be tactfully applied to the dynamic and ever-shifting nature of SBCC.

A good grasp of the Theory of Change Management

Work planning

Learning, M&E

Building strong partnerships

Great campaign design and implementation

Photos: Google images

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: Top 5 “soft-skills” every Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) specialist should espouse

(This post is inspired by a discussion I had with one of my mentors, Sean Southey.)

Be able to work effectively with partners.

Meet your audience where they are, not where you want them to be. IE: Never PRESUME you know the answers, until you validate and check. (This means FOCUS GROUP, FOCUS GROUP, FOCUS GROUP.)

 

 

Be open to learning -- this field is ALWAYS changing ... and so you need to know you will always need to change and grow with it.

Do GREAT work. Not good, but great. That is where excellence and reputation and results come from.

 

 

Focus on relationships -- they are the one thing that is fixed in a complex world. You will always have the respect of your colleagues regardless of where you work!

Photos: Google images