Communication Planning Recalled

Abstract

This is the author’s personal view of the emergence of communication planning for development and how planning processes may help to understand and manage the relationship between communication, social change and development. As a member of Unesco’s communication sector, in 1981 he developed a communication planning framework for development, which attempted to manage uncertainty through a process of regular evaluation and feedback. The framework was used as a design tool for several projects and was modified on the basis of evaluated experience. However, further evaluation showed that the framework was still too inflexible to manage real-life uncertainty, in particular political and ideological forces, and also underplayed the importance of continuing needs assessment and user involvement. At an international level, the relationship between policy and planning proved difficult to manage, largely because consensus could not be reached on ideological issues. It appears that systems-based planning is best suited to scenarios which are more interventionist and both objectives and outcomes are broadly agreed. In more open situations, where priorities and desired outcomes are less clear, a more sensitive and evolutionary approach is needed, with an emphasis on needs assessment, consultation and engagement. In future, the organic models employed by community media may be more relevant to communication planning for development, if they can be made compatible with the dominant political and social environment.