What we offer
Capacity building
Research training
The Centre offers a niche area for PhD research that draws students from around the world, and from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The Centre provides its research students with support, including top-up and field work scholarships, conference funding and writing retreats. Read more about research training opportunities here.
Coursework Masters (Communication for Social Change)
The Centre convenes the Master of Communication (Communication for Social Change), under the School of Communication and Arts. It is designed to strengthen critical skills, build capacities for work in the public, inter-governmental and NGO sectors, and build research excellence. Read more about postgraduate programs here.
Professional development
To help professionals from diverse sectors implement CSC principles, the CfCSC offers training modules in CSC areas to build capacity and increase expertise in this area. Leading specialists facilitate training in areas such as participatory development communication, facilitation of community engagement in development, innovative communication tools and ICTs in development. Short courses on related topics can be catered for. Read more about professional development here.
Consultancies
Facilitation
CfCSC staff have experience facilitating dialogue among diverse stakeholders to support equitable change processes.
Process and product development
The Centre can support organisations to design their own communication strategies and materials, and build capacity.
Evaluation
The Centre provides consultants that can design and implement evaluation strategies for development initiatives that are grounded in CSC principles. This can lead to the emergence of new ideas for project processes, policy and methodology.
Engagement
Annual Communication for Social Change Award
The CfCSC Award was established in 2006 to recognise outstanding contributions made by individuals and organisations to the theory and practice of Communication for Social Change (CSC); specifically those that have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to using communication to transform and empower marginalised communities.
The award consists of a $AUD 2500 prize and a travel package to participate in the Award Ceremony in Australia.
The objectives of the award are to:
- Recognise knowledge generation and major theoretical in the field of communication for social change;
- Acknowledge innovative and practical communication and social change projects that have contributed to grassroots-level sustainable development; and
- Appreciate the contributions made by individuals and organisations whose moral courage and extraordinary commitment to communication for social change expands the boundary of what is possible in this field.
The CSC Award is currently on hiatus.
Networks
The CfCSC has an extensive global network of affiliates, comprising of leading academics, practitioners, organisations, donors and governments working in communication and development fields and sharing the CSC vision. Affiliates contribute their specific expertise to research projects, consultancies and capacity building initiatives.
Events
The Centre hosts seminars, workshops and a biennial conference in the areas of participatory development communication, media and empowerment, ICTs and social change, and communication.
Research
Theory development
A key objective of the Centre is to advance knowledge of CSC theory and develop contextually grounded theoretical perspectives.
Transdisciplinary projects
CfCSC staff lead several projects that are of a transdisciplinary nature. Participatory communication principles and methods are applied to facilitate the sharing of disciplinary and cultural perspectives of project stakeholders to formulate shared agendas and methodologies to address issues in complex livelihood systems.
The CfCSC has been awarded over $10 million for international research projects from major research funding bodies since its inception. These include several projects in Indonesia and Vietnam funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Read more about CfCSC projects here.
Publications
The CfCSC continues to publish an extensive body of work on CSC research and application. A list of work is available here.