Communication for Sustainable Development

Communication in development is attempting to consider new ways to approach the exchange of information. I appreciate this inquiry after returning from Rwanda where my ideas of the transfer of information had to be weighed when working with another culture.


There is a difference between the transfer of knowledge and the co-creation of knowledge. The first implies a specialist or external agent who is seeking acceptance of his or her way of looking at solving a problem. The second (co-creation), considers stakeholders and their varied or complimentary experiences and knowledge in the outcomes. This becomes pertinent in my research as I consider how a communication designer can enter into the transfer of knowledge "problem" and be helpful (or not) in a culture other than my own. How can one "co-create" in communications where knowledge is typically exchanged with the use of a common language?

(Charts are from the 2005 United Nations Communication for Development Roundtable Report that focused on sustainable development)