Book(s) 75 of 193

Information alone does not ensure sustainable development. People and communities also need to be actively engaged in the processes, and their participation should be harnessed through communications activities designed for development purposes.

Who should be made responsible for initiating these activities? What are the best conditions for launching them? What are the limits of these communications activities, and more importantly, do they generate benefits for community development?

This book reports on an action-research conducted in West Africa by 23 centres de lecture et d'animation culturelle (CLAC). The aim of the research was to determine whether the centres’ communication activities could become part of their curricula to enlarge their mandate and transform them into real community development tools.

L'appui au développement communautaire is aimed to Clac contributors and community development organizations, in Africa or in other parts of the developing world, who wish to conduct communication activities in support of their communities' development. The book should also be of interest to funding agencies that wish to understand better the benefits local communities can reap from these activities.

THE EDITORS

Lucie Alexandre created the Centres de lecture et d'animation et d’animation culturelle working for the Agence de la Francophonie. She has coordinated the centres' programs for 15 years. Two hundred centres were built in 19 countries in Africa and the Indian Ocean rim region. The centres are located in rural communities with populations ranging between 5 000 and 20 000 inhabitants.

Guy Bessette is a senior program officer at IDRC and responsible for research projects in development communication in sub-Saharan Africa. He holds a PhD in educational technology and is a specialist in communication development. Guy is a team leader of the research featured in the book. He is coauthor of Participatory Development Communication: A West African Agenda (IDRC 1996).

Book(s) 75 of 193