Participatory Video

Participatory video is the use of video within groups for change, whether it is individual or societal. Like participatory action research, the degree of involvement that participants have in designing the goals and process varies from project to project. Using video as a participatory tool is growing in popularity, driven partly by the ongoing and significant improvements in video technology, as well as by an increasing availability of suitable computers, software and trained personnel.

Video as a Tool Participatory Video Adapting Participatory Video References and Further Reading

Video can be used as a tool by communities to scrutinise their problems and find solutions. The video camera is able to "participate" in community discussions, document scenes, and record interviews with individuals. The recorded segments can be played back and shown to the community - generating further discussion. Recordings can also be shown to the relevant authorities as part of village-led campaigns for awareness raising of the needs for actions or policy changes. After several months, or later when changes are taking place, the recorded materials can be edited, so creating a summary of the whole process.

Community representatives participate in the editing sessions, helping to ensure that what they want to say or show comes across in the final version. Editing of video is now greatly simplified with the use of computer laptops or PCs loaded with video editing software.

Participatory Video is summarised and introduced by Shaw and Robertson (1997) as follows:

"Participatory video is a group-based activity that utilises video as a participatory learning method. The fundamental objective is to create a climate that encourages individual and group development. The aim is to develop participants' abilities and potential by involving them in using video equipment creatively to record themselves and the world around them and to tell their own stories. The specific technical and organisational skills learnt, and the video tape produced, are part of the work, but it is the positive change that is engendered by the process, whether individual or societal, that is most important outcome."

"Active participation is an essential component. Group members operate the equipment for themselves from the very start and a primary aim is the development of the control over their own work. Used in this way video can be an effective tool in stimulating participation and communication. Through hands-on use of the equipment and the process of recording and playback participants can develop the confidence to speak for themselves as well as awareness about themselves and their ideas. The presence of the camera promotes interaction and discussion and encourages participants to look critically at their lives. Video also provides a means for them to communicate their ideas and aspirations both horizontally to each other and their own or different communities, as well as vertically to planners, funders and politicians. It can thus be a means for people to take a more active part in decisions that impact on them."

Participatory video projects tend to focus on social action or community development. This is not surprising given its origins in social research and community development. However, video has also been used very successfully as a mechanism for training individuals in specific skills. These two approaches indicate the potential of video for a two-way communication of knowledge, skills and community aspirations.

The process of Participatory Video (from IK Notes, 2004)

The process of PV is, in essence, extremely simple, and the equipment required is increasingly widely available and affordable. This is the way the process works:

• The rural people rapidly learn how to use video equipment through games and exercises facilitated by outsiders;
  
• The facilitators help local groups to identify and analyse important issues in their community and to plan how to show this on video;
  
• The video messages are directed and filmed by the local groups;
  
• The footage is shown to the wider community at daily screenings, setting in motion a dynamic exchange of ideas and perceptions.

 

Shaw, J. and Robertson, C. (1997). Participatory Video: A Practical Guide to Using Video Creatively in Group Development Work. Routledge, London and New York. (Available as an eBook at http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/html/moreinfo.asp?bookid=536885394)