Youth Video - fuel to power a sports for change movement
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Sport for change recipients use video to communicate the real people, stories and actions involved: strengthening themselves & inspiring others.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Sport
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Year the initative began (yyyy)
1998
YouTube Upload
This film was made by Youth Leaders from across Africa & South America taking part in the Next Step Conference, Namibia 2007. After Insight's Participatory Video training, Young Leaders used their skills to make sure the voices of the youth were effectively heard at the main sport for development conference.
In May 07 Insight trained a group of social change makers from around the world in Casablanca as part of a conference exploring the issue of Gender Equity in Sport for Social Change. The trainees worked with PV to make a record of La Course Feminine where over 25,000 women (predominatntly Muslim) took over the streets of Cassablanca for a 10km run. The atmosphere was electric!
In April 07 Insight trained the members of the Association of Kigali Women Footballers (AKWOF) and the Rwandan Federation for Handicapped Sports (FERHANDIS) to use video to work with their clients and tell their powerful stories of how sport is changing their lives.
More sports for change community made videos on our website,
Project URL (include HTTP://)
Positioning of your initiative on the mosaic diagram:
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Sport is trivialized
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Social cohesion
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
This field has not been completed
Name Your Project
Youth Video - fuel to power a sports for change movement
Describe Your Idea
Sport for change recipients use video to communicate the real people, stories and actions involved: strengthening themselves & inspiring others.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Sport for change recipients use video to communicate the real people, stories and actions involved: strengthening themselves & inspiring others.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
We hand the video camera over straight away to project beneficiaries. Our pioneering methods, known as Participatory Video (PV) boost self esteem, reflection and dialogue among communities. Over 10 years of experience show that video becomes a catalyst and a powerful tool/fuel for transformation. Insight is today recognised as the global leader in training and capacity building of PV.
Now is the perfect time to use this tool to help strengthen a global network of sport for change initiatives; the technology is cheap, the methodology is tried and tested and the passion and energy within the Changemaker community is dynamite!
We aim to create a global network of sport for change PV Hubs, so that impressive sports initiatives and ideas can be documented and evaluated by those directly concerned, cheaply and effectively. Our PV method is designed to enable everyone, irrespective of level of education, to share their knowledge and stories. To read about participatory video “in a nutshell” see the attached document.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change?
Great initiatives are happening all over the world, inspiring stories of sports-led change are being lost or at best translated into inaccessible reports by outsiders for outsiders.
Sport remains trivialized, convincing the “disbelievers” that this work has serious impacts is key. Video in the hands of beneficiaries offers an opportunity to communicate impacts that are difficult to capture with words.
Videos made by external professionals are expensive and unsustainable; participants become subjects rather than creators. PV films are made by the people…in their own voice.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
By building the capacity of key sports for change partners to use PV to strengthen & scale up their activities. Over the last 5 years we have developed a training model, which we have applied successfully in many different countries and contexts. Last year we were funded by UNDP to write our handbook on PV. The first 1500 copies were sold out within a year and 3000 more have been downloaded for free from our website.
Trainings are designed around principles of experiential learning employing a wide range of games & exercises that enhance creativity, sharing, reflection and learning. They have 3 stages starting with a 12 day training. This includes 4-5 days in the field getting hands-on facilitation experience, ending with trainees & community members editing 4-6 short locally made films. Next, trainees carry out their own post training assignment with our support, producing at least 2 short PV films with their target groups. The training concludes in a 5 day consolidation workshop 12-18 months later.
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
By growing a network of Southern based PV trainers, up-scaling our successful model and reducing costs to local fees. In this way enabling the many organisations and communities wanting PV in the majority world to be able to afford it. Hubs will be set up in 3-4 different countries simultaneously with facilitators training together and peer-reviewing each others progress. This is more cost effective and interlinks hubs from inception. Facilitators from the 1st generation of Hubs then assist in training and supporting the next group of Hubs. The network grows exponentially; driven by regional expertise & at massively reduced costs.
Insight will oversee the authentic & high quality PV process and products synonymous with our name. We will facilitate:
• a dynamic forum of peer-learning & sharing through face-to-face meetings & a Hub members PV web portal
• collaborative production of quality training resources, sustainability strategies and best practice examples for members.
• A volunteer programme will provide the Hubs with media-competent, mature volunteers skilled in video production to assist local facilitators.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
Enable the grassroots to focus on & communicate key issues & stories of change; breaking down boundaries, mobilizing support and inspiring others to take action.
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries?
Insight’s impact statement: Amplifying voices, connecting worlds, inspiring transformation.
We have shown over 10 years how PV escalates positive social change. Beneficiaries on the micro-scale are those individuals taking part in our workshops. PV equips people with group working and listening skills. It builds self-esteem, positive attitudes and an active role for participants in improving their quality of life. Young people are at the heart of the Sport for Change movement. PV engages the youth and ensures their voices are heard (eg. see video above).
With PV there is a huge “spread effect”: innovations, ideas and impacts are passed from individual to individual, community to community…and beyond!
Beneficiaries also include decision makers and a number of our projects have directly influenced policy shift. Programme implementers, donors and policymakers can be deeply affected by powerful stories and images captured at, and by the grassroots.
The impacts move from micro to macro, process to product as the videos themselves
become tools for change in the hands of NGO’s and Changemakers globally.
How many people have you served directly?
In the past 10 years we have worked – hands on - with more than 3000 individuals in over 28 different countries. Each individual PV workshop of more than 3 days directly involves an average of 50 participants. 100’s more will be closely involved, watching footage at community screenings, taking part in discussions or involved in role plays etc.
We then move into the 1000’s and 10,000’s depending on the particular project’s objectives. Some films are destined for advocacy or awareness raising on a local level, others are meant for mass dissemination via NGO networks, the web or national TV channels.
In Tanzania more midwives have been recruited by the Ministry of health as a direct result of a recent PV project. In other cases policy change cannot be attributed so clearly and directly to PV. In cases where PV has been used to add strength and momentum to wider movements our project evaluations show that many recognize PV as their key lobbying tool.
How many people have you served indirectly?
Qualifying rather than quantifying our impact has been our focus, helping us strengthen project and training delivery. Qualitative analysis has shown that those who watch the films, communities and individuals who are inspired by the changes they witnesses have been encouraged to act. Often we find that participants have managed to realize the goals and visions they have developed through PV workshops, though not always in the ways they planned. We see again and again that the first step to change is in the mind and very often reality will follow.
Produced PV films are copy-left (ie. we encourage duplication and free sharing of the films) so DVDs and low cost VCDs move from hand to hand, community to community, further circulated by street-side film rental shops. They are also shown at international conferences and meetings, in some case broadcast on national TV and always end up on our website thanks to YouTube and Google video, where they have attracted aprox 10,000 hits.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation?
A survey was conducted by the World Bank in 1999 amongst 60,000 people living on less than $1 a day. When asked what would make the greatest impact on their lives, the No.1 answer, above even food and shelter, was access to a voice.
The importance of communication for development is increasingly recognized. NGO's, Researchers and community groups throughout the world are asking how they can use this tool. To reach more marginalised communities we need an evolving network of southern based trainers.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
We need partners who support the bigger picture – investing in developing a working network through its inception years to enable deep work and longer-term capacity building. Investment into this framework will make PV cheaper & more accessible 2 years down the line. Whilst the development stage will deliver immediate impacts among involved NGOs & beneficiaries, getting some donors to invest in long-term strategies can be difficult.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Some of the set up costs will be funded by partners supporting global Sport for Change programmes, who aim to enhance their impacts and build the PV capacity of their local partners. We will encourage collaboration between programmes and cross-regional group trainings. Additionally we seek donor/corporate investment of approx $150,000 a year for 2 years to subsidise trainings and build a framework for long-term sustainability. Insight will also continue to invest time and profits into this model.
The hubs will develop business plans with Insight (supported by NESsT), exploring a wide range of income streams eg. PV training for other NGOs, documenting conferences, Monitoring & Evaluation services, promo-films for NGOs or businesses etc. Insight expects to attract cross hub programmes from global agencies such as UNDP.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization.
INSIGHT STAFF: Full-time:3, Part-time:3, Intern:1
ANNUAL BUDGET: 2005-6, 2006-7, 2007-8 (projected)
Turnover: $133,824, $168,086, $220,000
Core funds from Grants: $23,268, $5277, $36,000
Profit reinvested as core funds: $7,152, $11,800, $34,000
(See attached graph).
Most of our revenue comes directly from project work. We are proud to be succeeding as a self-sustaining social enterprise rather than as an NGO reliant on grants. Our profit is reinvested into our core running costs & growth: Last year 79% self generated, this year 100%, we are growing at a rate of 39% a year!
HUB COSTS: Currently, setting up 1 Hub on its own costs up to $90,000 to equip and train over 2 years ($5000 for equipment, $5000 for travel, $25,000 for coordination and associated costs, $25,000 for capacity building/training, $20,000 for staffing and running costs, $10,000 post production product development). Financial and in-kind contributions to local costs are expected from local organisations. Setting up several Hubs together can reduce the overall costs by up to 40%. A southern network of trainers will reduce costs massively.
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
The PV Hub idea has grown in response to demand coming from NGOs, research institutions, government organisations and corporate sponsors engaged in Sports for Change across the world. These groups are all potential clients. Applications go beyond sports, as our work in agriculture, climate change and health demonstrates. PV can add value at every level from project conception, implementation and dissemination to monitoring and evaluation. Insight’s growth curb shows this can become an important income generating activity for the local Hub hosts.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
Developing the correct model to suit all partners is crucial. Enabling growth & sustainability for Insight, the network and each autonomous Hub. Hubs will find their own local work and as part of a network should be able to access a much wider donor platform. Insight will focus on developing global programmes which bring work to the hubs and strengthen the network. We want your opinion. What is the best model to apply? Eg. should we follow a model similar to a franchise?
The Story
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
After graduating in Anthropology from Oxford University I worked as a social researcher on a programme working with semi-nomadic shepherds in Central Asia. I soon started to feel the frustration I had experienced at University with the whole academic approach to learning and understanding. However, now it didn’t just make me feel rebellious it made me feel deeply uncomfortable. The extractive research methods and academic approach produced long reports yet no obvious impact or change. I knew there must be better ways to do this, but how? I wanted the shepherds to be able to analyse their situation themselves and share their knowledge and visons directly rather than via my notebook.
My brother was at the time working with children excluded from mainstream education for behavioural reasons. He was using participatory video as a way to give them a creative outlet and means of engaging with local environmental and community issues. I was sure the same tools could be applied to my work. We started working together to adapt the tools to this new research/development context, drawing from various participatory methodologies and inventing new games and exercises. The results exceeded my expectations and we received strong approval from the communites themselves.
Now we have a great team of inspired individuals all working towards developing and refining PV. The Sport for Change movement is full of potential and again I see ways in which we can contribute in a unique way to enhance the great work being done on the ground.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material.
Chris is passionate about building bridges...between beneficiaries and donors, youth and their communities, new ways of seeing, knowing and doing. He has spent the last 10 years of his energy on the rewarding and fullfilling task of developing new tools to enable the majority world to have greater control and greater say in their own futures. He and his brother have worked tirelessly to spread and develop the tool of participatory video and its ability to empower and change communities and individuals.
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? (this is confidential)
I have been encouraged to submit an entry by Delyse Sylvester from changemakers and Ziba Cranmer from Nike. I want to get open and honest feedback from others working in this field to help refine and improve my innovation. I also want to gain exposure and link with potential partners among NGOs who could possibly host a hub, International partners who could incorporate this concept into their wider sport for change initiatives and donors/sponsors who feel they want to get involved in this vision of youth controlled media for social change through sport.
Affiliation (please list all that apply)
I am director of Insight an independent not for profit organisation. We are developing exciting links and partnerships with many in the Sport for Change movement but have no particular affiliation.
We were approached by Nike earlier this year who had read an article I had written about PV as a tool for beneficiary-led monitoring and evaluation (see attachments). Since then we have carried out 3 Nike sponsored trainings, one for Ashoka fellows and global Sports for Change leaders in Cassablanca, 1 for a womens football team and coaches in Rwanda and more recently with Youth leaders at the Next step conference in Namibia organised by UK sport (see video with this application).
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Insight Accounts Graph.pdf | 230.18 KB |
| PLA NOTES - PV for Monitoring & Evaluation.pdf | 310.41 KB |
| What is PV - in a Nutshell.pdf | 211.43 KB |
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Comments
Chris,
Thankyou for your great initiative. Your vision is really well developed and Ive looked at your website and can see you guys are really way ahead on all of this. I loved the intro to PV film you have done, it really shows the power of this process.
This is exactly what we need in this field. I am a volunteer on a sports programme in Lancaster and have also visited other NGOs working with sport in Ghana and Zimbabwe. Everywhere I have seen the same problem, exactly as you describe: Inability to get the powerful stories out there. Also I can see your method is a process that would really help our programme, we have difficulty reaching the more marginal ethnic groups in our area. I see participatory video as a perfect way to bring in some of these groups, involve them, get to hear their needs and how we can serve them better and also spread awareness among them about what we are trying to do. Have you ever done anything like this before?
Thanks and good luck!
yours
Pogle
Hi and thanks for this!
I think you will love to read the case study we have on our website about using Participatory Video as a tool for community led consultation and reaching out to more marginal groups in the community. The project took place in Oxford and has many parallels with the work you are describing. Check it out and let me know if you have any further questions/thoughts: http://insightshare.org/case_study_Cowley_Road.html
All the best with your projects
Chris
One of the greatest strengths of the PV method -- in addition to the products produced -- is its ability to get people involved right away, and to allow them to teach one another. This gives them an immediate sense of empowerment and ownership, which can be the gateway to greater things. I had the privilege of learning a bit more about Insight and PV via a recent writing assignment. Visit www.changemakers.net/node/2578 to learn a bit more about the ways PV can be used and the impact it has on everyone involved.
Thanks for that Jessica, and I would also recommend people check out the article you wrote, you clearly and simply laid out what PV can do in this context. Thats your gift!
Cheers Chris
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
Chris, thanks for the heads-up email regarding your proposal/project on Changemakers. I just reveiwed your proposal, viewed the sample video & went to the website - all I can say is...WOW! What your organization is doing is not only empowering for the young people who participate but it is truly inspirng for anyone who views their work that is accomplished through the process of PV. Your program is givng young people a chance to share their authentic voice and ideas in a very compelling and real way. Training them to capture and tell the stories that truly matter to them(and not what some academics or govenment officials or adults) will be a catalyst for social change. By telling these stories through ther voices, eyes and emotions, the young people will build their own bridges to the decision-makers who can impact their lives and the community's well-being.
I told a friend this week that it would be fantastic if there was an international gathering of some sort that provided a venue to tell the stories of sport for social change & have potential funders and businesses that are drawn to supporting this movement in attendance. So, in the same spirit as the World Economic Forum/Davos where they gather all of those influential luminaries but, imagine the gathering being for the purpose of propelling the sport for social change movement. I can imagine that your program could be a focal point of this forum with a sport for social change film festival with a philanthropic spin - a venue premiering a multitude of films from around the world on social topics that the young people of a given community have decided to discuss/share/solve via sport and play; attendees from the business world and interested governemnt would be viewing the projects to identify potential partnerships. I think the idea warrants some thought.
Congratulations on creating a platform for authentic & compelling stories to be shared!
Hi Kevin, Thanks for your spot on comment. Im glad you can see the power of this process. Its true that this tool can be seen as a research medium for the masses, a way for people to go deeply into issues that matter to them, opening up to new perspectives as well as having their own heard. I also feel that whilst there is no question about the power of sport to engage and develop the groups they involve, it can be difficult in some cases to get participants to open themselves up and bring their lives onto the playing field. Video in the beneficiaries' hands can really help bring out the "other side of the game". It is a great way to open discussion and exploration of topics such as HIV, gender issues, human rights, poverty....and inspire action. Your film festival/social forum idea is wonderful. We have often talked about having mini film festivals during the final "consolidation" stage of capacity building (after groups have carried out their own PV work - chance for peer learning and exchange). This bigger picture is brilliant. Thanks for that and lets make it happen!
All the best
Chris
Kevin,
I totally agree - it seems to me that the ESPN Tribeca film festival would be a good place to explore this opportunity. Chris and Insight have done amazing work, I have seen the reaction of the young people that go through this program and its the real thing. The other aspect of their work which is really important is that it shows impact which we have had such a difficult time doing with traditional evaluation methods. With sport-based programs, seeing is believing and my question is how to establish video as an acceptable form of evidence for the research geeks out there. Definitely would love to work on both these ideas! with you!
Chris - awesome job!
Cheers,
Z
Hi Chris! Hi everybody at Insight!
As someone who has benefitted from Insight training I am so glad to see you here on changemakers since you guys really are changemakers. By helping non techy folk get their hands on cameras and know how to show their own stories their own way ...you are helping the movement define itself and its points of reference in its own terms.
This is important so that our sport for social change projects do not get portrayed by the mass media as some sort of heroic project for the poor (false) or exotic project for some strange group (false) or some luxury when there are more demanding needs (false) but instead we have the chance to portray ourselves and bring peoples voice to the fore that are often neglected pushed aside and generally ignored.
I love how Insight keeps a tight ship and fast schedule but still leaves room for fun. I hope to join you guys for another workshop soon! Until then keep up the good work.
All the best from Berlin
Hc
Heather Cameron
Free University Berlin
University Challenge
Hi Heather,
Thanks for taking the time to check this out and for your great words!
I too hope we can join up again soon!
Cheers Chris
Really impressed by the Insight participatory video (PV) training, I witnessed this in Namibia where I was working as part of the BBC Your Game team.
For me personally it has been very useful - I send the link to people who will never in a million years get round to reading a report on sport for development ...
Of course the important thing is the process, I like the way PV makes people realise that they can do what they always left up to other people. Does that make sense?
So even if a session doesn't produce the next generation of film makers, you can produce the next generation of people who are prepared to have a go, learn new skills, represent themselves and their communities, work as a team, understand how the media works a little ...
Keep up the good work.
thanks, Nick
ps - meet some of the trainees here: http://www.yourgame2010.com/profile or just have a look the Your Game 2010 website: it has been designed as a training ship for trainees to showcase their work, and reflect activities taking place at the Nex Step conference: http://www.yourgame2010.com