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EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES: THE CLIMATE AIRWAVES 

INITIATIVE IN GHANA"  

 

Jennifer Louise Anderson 

Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK  

 

Abstract: Community radio in Africa is a powerful tool for advocacy and social change, but its potential in 

addressing climate change remains underutilized. This article explores lessons learned from the Climate 

Airwaves initiative, which aims to empower community radio broadcasters in Ghana to investigate, 

communicate, and engage in discussions about climate change's impact on vulnerable communities. The 

initiative emphasizes action research for social change and its broader role in climate justice efforts. Key lessons 

include the need to address complexity and uncertainty effectively, framing climate change within the context 

of rights and responsibilities, fostering sustainable partnerships, and aligning with broadcasters' and 

communities' long-term visions of change. 

 

Keywords: Community radio, Climate change, Climate justice, Ghana, Action research 

 

Introduction 

Community radio is well recognized as a powerful vehicle for advocacy and social change in Africa, but its use 

in the field of climate change has remained very limited, and then largely for top-down transmission of 

information to communities. This article discusses lessons learned to date from the Climate Airwaves, an 

initiative aimed at developing new approaches for supporting community radio broadcasters to investigate, 

communicate, and engage in broader debates on the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities in 

Ghana. It also discusses in depth the central role that action research aimed at effecting social change plays in 

this particular initiative, and in climate justice initiatives more broadly. Lessons learned to date have highlighted 

the challenges of addressing complexity and uncertainty appropriately, the importance of framing climate change 

in the context of rights and responsibilities, the role of sustainable partnership models, and how this work can 

contribute to broadcasters‘ and communities‘ longer-term visions of change.  

Background and Justification for the Study Climate Change and Development in Africa: Dimensions of 

Local Engagement 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007), by 2020, between 75 and 250 million 

people in Africa could be exposed to increased water stress, and agricultural yields in some areas of the continent 

could be reduced by up to 50% as a result of climate change, resulting in widespread loss of lives and livelihoods 

across the continent. These and other impacts are already being                                          

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This work was supported by the Carleton University/IDRC Radio Convergence and Development in Africa 

Research Program [grant number RCDA.C89]. Sincere thanks to the members of Ghana Community Radio 

Network and two anonymous IJoC reviewers for their valuable inputs to this paper. felt and will continue to 

worsen for the foreseeable future. For vulnerable communities in Africa, the emerging local-level impacts of 

climate change compound the already-existing challenges of persistent poverty, HIV/AIDS, and social 

vulnerability. As a result, increasing levels of attention and funding are being directed toward helping vulnerable 

communities, particularly in developing and least-developing countries, build strategies to adapt, although 

current funding flows are still widely viewed as grossly insufficient (Brown, Nanasta, & Bird, 2009).  

Despite the increased international attention on the projected socio-ecological impacts of climate change on 

Africa, studies suggest that research uptake at the local level has been limited, partly due to the challenges 

involved with communicating scientific research in ways that are appropriate to local stakeholder needs 

(Gauthier, 2005), as well as failure to meaningfully engage existing local institutions (Agrawal & Perrin, 2009) 

and local cultural practices (Ensor & Berger, 2009). Alongside these challenges, numerous studies have called 

for increased scientific engagement with local or indigenous ecological knowledge as a valuable source of 

adaptive practice and a pathway to integrating new approaches to adaptation (Berkes, Colding, & Folke, 2000).    

One of the key barriers to meeting these challenges, this study agues, has been a failure to harness effective local-

level forums that allow for dialogue and exchange between researchers, community members, intermediaries 

(individual or institutional), and policy makers. Much of what has been termed ―knowledge sharing‖ or 

―research communication‖ in climate change adaptation has relied on institutionally-managed online databases 

and ―knowledge portals,‖ periodic workshops for climate change focal points, or occasional meetings to 

coincide with particular projects being implemented in a given community or district. These approaches tend 

either to engage those already ―in the know‖ and familiar with the discourse and institutional processes around 

climate change, or to engage with those at the margins of this discourse as passive or uninformed targets of 

information. As a result, these initiatives have frequently failed to span the ―last mile‖: to engage vulnerable 

communities in ways that address barriers presented by technology, language, and power relations; to link with 

the existing channels of communication that communities rely on; or to build upon ongoing activities and social 

spheres of vulnerable groups. They fail to capitalize on the important role that local culture and ways of knowing 

must play within community-based climate change adaptation (see Figure 1), and thus, they limit the potential 

for lasting change.  

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Figure 1. Multiple Roles of Culture in Community-based Adaptation. (Adapted from Ensor & Berger, 2009)  

The failure to effectively employ appropriate communication channels to involve local stakeholders in sustained 

discussion on climate change has prompted a series of reflections on needs and recommendations for both 

researchers and journalists (Fahn, 2009; Godfrey, Pauker, & Nwoke, 2008; Ochieng, 2009). In general, these 

recommendations have highlighted the urgent need for spaces for interaction between research, policy, and 

media actors throughout the research and implementation of adaptation actions. This interaction must be 

supported, they argue, by strengthening the capacity of media actors to understand the fundamentals of climate 

change and how it relates to local-level concerns, how research is conducted, and how to investigate climate 

change locally. These studies also recommend that research institutions link with media actors to provide them 

with relevant and up-to-date scientific information.  

Literature/Document Review  

Community Radio as a Tool for Advocacy and Social Change in Africa  

Despite the attention given to the exponential growth in access to new ICTs in Africa, radio remains the 

continent‘s dominant mass-medium. Radio has the widest geographical reach and the highest audiences when 

compared with television, printed press, or other ICTs, such as the Internet (Balancing Act, 2008; Myers, 2008; 

Panos Institute of West Africa, 2008). Recent surveys conducted by InterMedia in Ghana and Kenya 

(comparatively well-connected countries by sub-Saharan African standards) reveal that only mobile telephones 

approach the level of popular use enjoyed by radio (see Figure 2).   

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Figure 2. Access to ICTs in Kenya and Ghana (Bowen & Goldstein 2010).  

Studies from elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa (cited above) suggest equal or still-greater dominance of radio as 

a communications medium, with the exception of some parts of southern Africa where television is in wide use.  

Radio station ownership in Africa tends to fall under three categories: state-controlled public radio, privately 

owned commercial radio, and community-controlled radio, though distinctions between the categories can be 

somewhat unclear in certain cases. Community radio, in particular, has been recognized as having great potential 

as a tool for popular expression and advocacy, with a democratization of content. Myers observes that ―Radio 

seems to have proven itself as a developmental tool, particularly with the rise of community and local radios, 

which have facilitated a far more participatory and horizontal type of communication‖ (2008, p. 5). This said, 

Myers also notes that community radio is not uniformly or uniquely beneficial, as   

. . . there are some radios with a community license that can be appropriated by negative political forces and, at 

worst, can turn into ―hate radio.‖ Many commercial radio stations have impressive development content. So, 

―community‖ is not necessarily ―good,‖ and ―commercial‖ is not necessarily ―bad‖ and many community 

radios are semicommercial anyway. (ibid., p. 13)  

Community radio also faces significant and persistent capacity challenges in terms of formal training and 

education (on the issues, on conducting research, and on broadcast production) of broadcasters, insufficient 

human and financial resources, and a heavy existing agenda of issues to cover amid these challenges. These are 

particularly important when stations are moving into new and complex issues to cover, such as climate change, 

as will be discussed below.  

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With these reservations in mind, community radio seems to offer a potentially valuable medium for engaging in 

local discussions of the political, environmental, and social dimensions of climate change adaptation, especially 

in the African context, where access to other communication channels is often limited. Current research suggests 

that community radio programming which is developed with the participation of communities and complemented 

with the use of organized listening groups and other channels of communication (such as new ICTs) can provide 

a very effective means of learning and influencing behavior (AFFRI, 2008). Beyond this role, community radio 

is able to provide a compelling platform for community voice in areas where language, transportation, and 

poverty present major barriers to popular expression. Gauthier notes that,   

. . . with its lower production costs and extreme versatility, radio lends itself just as well to rapid interventions 

as to the broadcasting of in-depth reports, and is just as suitable for the dissemination of information as it is for 

entertainment or educational purposes. Radio allows villagers to make their voices heard directly, regardless of 

their level of education or social standing. (2005, p. 1)  

This facility is due not only to the technological appropriateness and accessibility of radio in the context of rural 

Africa, but to the mandate that community radio is expected to fulfill ―as the voice of the voiceless, the 

mouthpiece of oppressed people (be it on racial, gender, or class grounds) and generally as a tool for 

development‖ (AMARC Africa and Panos Southern Africa, 1998).   

To date, however, the majority of initiatives linking community radio and climate change have been focused on 

the top-down delivery of messages informing listeners about strategies for adapting, preparing them for such 

anticipated climate-induced events as floods and droughts, and influencing decision-making at the household 

level (Godfrey et al., 2008). While this is, indeed, a valuable role in the context of climate change adaptation, it 

fails to capitalize on the much greater potential of community radio to strengthen citizens‘ voices, and even to 

fundamentally challenge existing sociopolitical power structures, by helping people to ―define, claim, and give 

meaning to their citizenship, and re-create the social and political openings and alternative spaces where their 

voices might be heard‖ (Pettit, Salazar, & Dagron, 2009, p. 445). Doing so, as I describe in the following section, 

involves moving radio beyond the role of information transmission, into the process of knowledge production.  

Community Radio as Action Research  

This paper has highlighted the growing recognition of the importance of involving communities and their 

knowledge in assessing, prioritizing, communicating, and implementing research and action on adaptation to 

climate change (Jennings, 2009). This invokes similar discussions around the value and forms of participation 

in international development cooperation, and the potential pitfalls of certain framings or deployments of 

participation (Cooke & Kothari, 2001) and North-South research collaboration (Bradley, 2006). Participatory 

forms of inquiry share a common political and ethical interest in ―sharing in the way research is conceptualized, 

practiced, and brought to bear on the life-world‖ (McTaggart, 1991, p. 171). This includes shifting both the aims 

and the ownership of research findings away from the researcher and toward the participating people, with the 

ultimate goal of achieving community action that challenges hegemonic structures and practices (Fals-Borda, 

1988; Kemmis & McTaggart, 2000). These ambitions resonate closely with the stated potential of community 

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radio as a vehicle for social and structural change. However, the degree to which any of these shifts toward 

community participation and action occur within the context of participatory research can vary from case to case, 

depending on the particular approach adopted. Also, what research actually qualifies as ―participatory‖ is 

frequently debated (Jordan, 2003). For instance, there is often disagreement about how the notion of 

―meaningful‖ participation should be interpreted. Peet and Hartwick underscore these variations, noting the   

. . . real differences between institutional views of participation (in which local populations serve only as ‗extras‘ 

or ‗human resources‘) and the more radical views of PAR theorists, who admit that their knowledge is irrelevant 

if local people do not regard it as useful and believe in full participation. (1999, p. 141)  

There are, therefore, strong parallels in the concern over voice, ownership, and representation of knowledge (and 

ways of knowing) voiced by proponents of participatory action research and those evoked by community media, 

including community radio. Cornish and Dunn highlight some of these overlaps:  

Citizen-led approaches to communication as means of both creating and expressing knowledge . . . have the 

power to complement and enhance more formalized and analytical research findings, because of their ability to 

access and convey other ways of knowing, which may be intuitive, tacit, embodied, artistic, cultural, symbolic, 

or spiritual in nature. They also have potential to contribute to a broader empowerment process within 

communities; to allow people who are traditionally the ―researched‖ to have a sense of ownership over the 

research process and potentially take action on their own behalf. (2009, p. 670)  

Indeed, as I have argued, community radio can and should be an active participant in action research on climate 

change adaptation within communities. It has a strategic position, as the actors are permanently embedded within 

and working alongside communities, and may well have a clearer understanding of stakeholder groups, local 

history, and community needs than researchers or other practitioners coming from outside. Its abilities to convene 

community representatives, ensure democratic representation within the community, keep communities 

appraised of work being conducted, and collect local testimonies are all important principles of action research 

which are often overlooked in conventional research. Also important is its mandate for challenging existing 

systems by transmitting upward to dutybearers (elected and appointed officials who bear responsibilities vis-à-

vis the community) and powerbrokers (see Figure 3). This role is not greatly different from the one that many 

community radio stations or networks have already defined for themselves (White, 2007). In Ghana, where the 

pilot study discussed in this paper is being implemented, Alex Quarmyne, founder of the Ghana Community 

Radio Network (GCRN), describes the challenge that confronts these broadcasters to   

. . . ensure that listening communities are not only consumers of information, however rich and appropriate. 

Rather, to be consistent with its objective of promoting indigenous knowledge, the station will need to work . . . 

to enable the listening communities, especially the most disadvantaged groups, to upload and grow their own 

knowledge. (ibid., para. 22)   

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Figure 3. Information Sharing and Advocacy Intervention Model.  

Scope and Objectives of the Research Climate Airwaves:  Linking Climate Change and Advocacy 

Through African Community Radio  

The Climate Airwaves initiative is a pilot project aimed at testing many of the theoretical assumptions outlined 

above through a network of community radio broadcasters in Ghana. It was launched in June 2010 with the aim 

of piloting and validating a methodology for strengthening community radio capacity to draw upon ICTs and 

intermediary networks to ngage in action research and advocacy on climate change adaptation and climate 

justice. The methodology was designed to help community radio strengthen local knowledge and voices on 

climate change impacts and adaptation by increasing their input into local research and policy dialogue, and 

sharing their experiences of and responses to climate change. The initiative therefore sees community radio as 

playing a convening, knowledge-brokering, and advocacy role among community members, decision makers, 

and researchers. It sees action research as a key to both building broadcasters‘ capacities to perform this role and 

strengthening their engagement with local communities.  

The project is being implemented through a partnership of networks working on climate change and community 

radio in Africa. These are the Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN), the AfricaAdapt Knowledge Sharing 

Network on adaptation to climate change, and AMARC (the World Association of Community Radio 

Broadcasters). Another core partner in the initiative is the Institute of Development Studies at the University of 

Sussex, UK (IDS), which works extensively on climate change and participatory development.   

Ghana, like many countries in West Africa, faces significant vulnerability to the projected impacts of climate 

change, particularly in terms of water-stress, land degradation, and coastal zone erosion, which are expected to 

lead to drops in agricultural productivity, power shortages (nearly 80% of Ghana‘s electricity is from 

hydroelectric generation), and loss of key coastal land, among other impacts (Dazé, 2007; McSweeney, New, & 

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Lizcano, 2008). There is also concern that these projected impacts could prompt internal (north-to-south) and 

cross-border migration and conflict (BBC World Service Trust, 2009; Dazé, 2007).  

The three GCRN member stations participating in the project—Radio Ada, Radio Afram Plains, and Radio 

Tongu—all lie on the Volta River. Radio Ada has been on the air for 12 years and is the effective forerunner and 

living laboratory for many of the participatory methodologies applied by GCRN. Radio Afram Plains went on 

the air in 2001 following a participatory design process facilitated by GCRN. Radio Tongu is the youngest GCRN 

member-station, having gone on the air in mid-February 2010, but it has benefitted from the full range of GCRN 

participatory training programs. Communities served by the three stations have all had their lives and livelihoods 

significantly diminished by the damming of the Volta River. The impact of climate change on the ebb and flow 

of the river has made them even more vulnerable. The harm is most evident in communities in Ada, at the estuary 

of the Volta and the Atlantic Ocean, where entire communities are being displaced by the silting of the river and 

coastal erosion. Although they are 18 km inland from the sea, the other communities are seeing their future 

mirrored in Ada, particularly as fishing activities have increasingly had to be replaced by alternative livelihoods, 

such as petty trading. Afram Plains, an island created by the dam, is host to migrants displaced by the same dam. 

The communities of Radio Ada are Dangme-speaking, but they feel a kinship to the Ewes on the other side of 

the river. The Tongu language is part of Ewe, which is also the native language of many of the migrants in Afram 

Plains. In all three communities, women bear the brunt of sustaining the day-to-day economy, and their 

empowerment is a focus of their Community Radio stations‘ programming.   

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The partnership and capacity strengthening model that has been piloted in the Climate Airwaves initiative was 

collaboratively developed between 2008 and 2010. One of the aims of the model was to build on the existing 

strength of Ghana‘s community radio stations by convening local stakeholders and creating a space to share 

knowledge on the causes, impacts, and responses to climate change. However, it is also recognized that climate 

change presents a complex challenge which spans spatial, temporal, and jurisdictional scales, and which 

therefore extends beyond the knowledge or influence of singular institutions or actors (Cash et al., 2006). Thus, 

in order to achieve the full potential posited above, there is also a need for access to and understanding of 

information, political processes, and actor-networks which extend beyond the local community level. As a result, 

the engagement model being piloted here contains a strong focus on capacity and network strengthening, where 

capacity is understood as the capability to act intentionally amid complex constraints, to generate desired 

development results, to relate to other actors, to adapt and self-renew, and to bring things together and achieve 

greater coherence (Morgan, 2006).  

Methodology and Tools Used  

Methodology: The Value of Action Research  

It is important to emphasize that the pilot study and the questions that frame it were conceived around 

participatory, action-oriented methodology, reflecting the belief that, ―if you choose to regard your subjects as 

self-directing agents, whose creative thinking determines their actions, then you cannot do research on them or 

  

Figure 4. Map with Location of the Three Station Areas (adapted from Google).   

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about them, but only with them‖ (Heron, 1996, p. 202). As such, the validity and usefulness of its findings should, 

first and foremost, be confirmed by those engaging directly in the study‘s activities, particularly local 

broadcasters and community members. The choice of approach for the study was fundamentally important given 

that the model of practice piloted with radio stations is, itself, built upon the same principles of the benefits of 

participation and co-production of knowledge. Thus there are two levels of action research at play: the 

overarching collective testing and validation of the action research method, and the inquiries led by community 

radio broadcasters at community level as a part of the process.   

The initiative had three implementation phases. During each of these phases, there was a strong emphasis on 

documenting the reflections, processes, and outcomes of engagement through the production of radio broadcasts 

which could then be aired in the communities to keep community members informed about work that was being 

undertaken. The first phase consisted of a baseline assessment of the existing experience and knowledge on 

climate change and participatory research approaches within the radio stations and the communities they serve, 

followed by capacity-building activities to address the knowledge gaps identified by participants. The 

assessments were designed by IDS and GCRN, carried out by the station members themselves, and analyzed 

collectively at a workshop in Ghana. On the basis of these assessments, workshops on ―understanding and 

communicating climate change‖ and ―conducting and communicating community-based action research on 

climate change‖ were developed collaboratively by GCRN and IDS. They were implemented over the course of 

several months by members of IDS, as well as in-country experts from international and civil society 

organizations who, wherever possible, had existing ties to the network. This approach was used to strengthen 

the stations‘ ties to resources which will continue to be available to them beyond the life of the Climate Airwaves 

initiative and may, therefore, continue to contribute to their investigation and interpretation of climate impacts 

in the future.  

The second phase involved piloting the engagement process between the radio stations, their broadcast 

communities, applied climate research taking place in the region, and local authorities and power-holders. 

Broadcasters conducted inquiries into community experiences and understanding of climate change using a 

systemic action research approach (Burns, 2007), engaging with researchers working on climate-related issues 

in their regions to understand what they were prioritizing and finding, and finally, bringing these groups together 

with decision makers to collectively reflect on what communities are experiencing, what research is revealing, 

and whether or how this is being translated into policy and action.   

The systemic action research approach is a multi-step process where teams of investigators (the broadcasters 

themselves in this case) first identify a broad set of community members with whom they then conduct open-

ended interviews aimed at first listening to the members‘ stories and their concerns. The stories gathered are 

shared among investigators and mapped (as quotes and storylines) onto a series of boards where all team 

members can analyze and contribute to them. From this initial inquiry, areas of focus where common or key 

issues have emerged are identified, and a series of follow-up questions and targeted interviews are developed to 

deepen the investigation. Once these additional inquiries have been conducted, the mapping is revisited, this 

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time with participants drawing links between different community members‘ experiences, the policies or 

practices that bear influence on them, and the other actors who intervene into the system within which the 

experience unfolds. The focus here is on revealing, with increasing levels of detail, the complex set of 

relationships and influences which underlie a particular challenge as it experienced by local people. What is 

frequently revealed through this process is that a given experience (of coastal zone erosion, for example) can 

have a wide range of other stressors beyond the effects of climate change (land tenure policies, power relations 

between authorities and communities, infrastructure development, etc.). The draft mapping is then reviewed with 

communities and other participants in the inquiry for input, and on this basis, the broadcasters are then able to 

identify points within this map where they feel that their intervention may be able to promote positive change 

within the system.  

 
The first community-level inquiry was conducted in the Ada region (villages of Azizanya and Agfiedenyigba) 

as a part of the action research training. Members from all three stations participated to model the methodology. 

Through the inquiry, they were able to investigate impacts of climate change in the greater Ada region and link 

these to existing drivers of vulnerability in order to identify key areas for action. After the modeling workshop 

in Ada, stations from Afram Plains and Tongu repeated the same process in their own broadcasting regions to 

identify key areas of focus. The table below outlines the final areas of focus for the investigations that were 

determined by each of the stations through their preliminary systemic action research inquiries and mapping.  

  

  

Figure 5. A Participant Adding to a System Map during a Workshop in Ada, Ghana.   

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Table 1. Summary of Research Focus at Each Participating Station (GCRN Interim report, April 2011).  

Station  

  

Afram Plains  Tongu  Ada  

Theme  Low Crop Yield  

*In-migration 

from Volta Region 

for rich cocoa 

farming   

*Akosombo dam + 

CC  

*No cocoa / no 

crops  

*Out-migration >  

―Ghost town‖  

Drought & Floods  

* Displaced by 

Akosombo dam  

* Drought a 

constant issue * Spillage 

from Akosombo > 

relocation – returned * 

Spillage expected to be 

worse/more frequent  

* Out-migration  

CC > Coastal 

Erosion >  

Land Tenure &  

Community Rights   

  

Community  Bethel  Avadiwoe-kome  

(Island community)  

Azizanya  

People  

(Discussants &  

Interviewees)  

Chief; MOFA; 

Women;  

Men; Children; 

Youth  

D.A.; NGOs;  

Assembly-

members  

Assembly members;  

Headmen; Farmers &  

Fishermen‘s groups; 

Youth & children; 

Elderly  

women/men; Market 

women; Agricultural 

extension officer; 

District  

Chief Executive;  

District  

Planning Officer  

Azizanya chief;   

1 female youth;   

Elderly fishmonger;  

Girl, 10–15 yrs;   

Ada Foah chief; 

District  

Chief Executive;   

MP  

  

Language of  

Broadcast  

Ewe  Tongu  Dangme  

Key Questions 

and Notes  

  

  

How, in the process of the research/inquiry, can we deepen reflection and 

expression by using such “tools” as proverbs/songs etc?    

How, based on our rich experience, can we involve the community in 

developing the system map? (use of the ground, stick and symbols)  

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How can the process lead to dialogue and negotiation toward community-

driven change?  

Note potential implications from any legal issues (may need legal advice 

/ draw on legal allies).  

After these themes of investigation were determined, broadcasters were put in contact with climate researchers 

working on similar issues within their region in order to obtain additional feedback specific to the climate 

dimension of the challenges they identified. The evidence produced by these researchers in reports and 

publications also served to confirm findings that broadcasters had produced, and to add additional credibility to 

their arguments with outside actors. This process was supported by the AfricaAdapt network, which hosts a large 

community of researchers and practitioners working on climate change.   

The third and final phase of this initiative involved compiling the findings and experiences of the three stations, 

and then sharing them at national and international levels to raise awareness of, and prompt responses to, 

community-level experiences of climate change, as well as to share lessons on the potential of community radio 

as a catalyst for social and political action on climate change in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. Community 

forums or ―durbars‖ were held at each of the three station locations, bringing together community members, 

elders, chiefs, and district representatives to re-listen to the broadcasts, discuss the findings, and raise questions 

for leaders and duty-bearers. These durbars provided a space where community members could articulate their 

concerns and get commitments from their representatives on issues such as disaster relief, alternative livelihoods 

projects, and the introduction of new policies. These discussions were then broadcast out to the broader listening 

community, so as to ensure that those who were not present could also provide input.  

The reporting on community experience at the national level was then facilitated through GCRN via a national 

forum held in Accra, the national capital, where broadcasters and community members presented the results of 

these investigations to national representatives and members of the international community, highlighting 

common concerns from across the different broadcast areas and seeking to gain national support for the needs 

articulated at district levels. Beyond the national scale, lesson-sharing with the broader radio and climate 

communities continues to be facilitated through AMARC and the AfricaAdapt network.  

  

Learning and Participatory Evaluation of the Process  

The process has been designed to maximize and make visible the value of linking learning and action research 

in an ongoing process of learning in action. While learning is often understood to be deeply intertwined with the 

action research process, the Climate Airwaves initiative‘s emphasis on capacity development has led this to be 

a point of much more deliberate emphasis. At each stage of the training and implementation process, the 

members of the project team (broadcasters, trainers, GCRN staff, etc.) have both reviewed the impacts and 

implications of the work that they have done, and considered how it might be relevant for them in their daily 

activities. The participatory monitoring and evaluation process developed for this initiative is also aimed at 

embedding learning and reflection into the implementation of both training and piloting the methodology.   

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Ultimately, the success or failure of this initiative will be assessed by the broadcasters themselves and the 

communities that they represent. As noted above, one of the key frameworks for reflecting on the success of this 

initiative is the extent to which it strengthens the capacity of participating community radio broadcasters to do 

the following things: act intentionally amid complex constraints, generate desired development results, relate to 

other actors, adapt and self-renew, and bring things together to achieve greater coherence (Morgan, 2006). A 

second approach which has been adapted and frequently employed by GCRN to envision and develop strategies 

for social change in their action research initiatives is appreciative inquiry (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987). 

These two approaches are applied using both faceto-face reflections at capacity-building workshops and 

stakeholder dialogues, and through the use of audio journaling by community broadcasters as they move through 

the different phases of the methodology.   

Audio journaling allows the evaluation process to play a central role in the actual implementation, rather than 

construing it as an ―add-on‖ procedure merely carried out for auditing or accountability purposes. Broadcasters, 

who already possess strong capacities in designing, recording, and editing discussions for airing, use these 

reflections as part of the broadcasts they produce throughout the initiative. These journals can be used to reflect 

on the challenges of understanding and communicating climate change knowledge, the value of the action 

research process, overall impressions of the initiative, etc., and they can also be revisited periodically to track 

how people‘s experiences have evolved over time in line with the dimensions of capacity outlined above. Some 

audio journaling moves beyond broadcaster experiences and engages community members in reflections on the 

value of, or approaches to, addressing climate change. Regular audio journaling, paired with both the baseline 

self-assessments conducted at the outset of the initiative and a re-assessment conducted at its conclusion, provide 

a body of participantgenerated evidence that can then be reviewed collectively to establish what has been learned, 

what changes have occurred, and what the next steps should be, using the model of appreciative inquiry 

developed by GCRN.   

Appreciative inquiry is fundamentally concerned with taking a co-constructive and positive approach to adaptive 

learning and planning by ―inquiring into organization existence in ways that are economically, humanly, and 

ecologically significant‖ (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005). It typically follows a ―4-D‖ approach, inviting 

participants to reflect on discovery (appreciating and valuing the best of ―what is‖), dream (envisioning ―what 

might be‖), design (dialoguing ―what should be‖), and destiny (innovating ―what will be‖). To these, GCRN 

has added a fifth ―D‖, discernment (reflecting on ―what has become‖). As a visioning exercise used across the 

range of GCRN programming activities, it was important to include this as a part of Climate Airwaves activities, 

to ensure that this work is seen as a component of the broader advocacy and social change project pursued by 

the Network.  

Key Findings and Reflections  

The process outlined here is currently in its final stages, with a closing national discussion forum for sharing 

results held in August 2011, and the lesson-sharing and evaluation currently being concluded. Thus, the long-

term impact and value of the methodology being piloted in this partnership is difficult to gauge, although some 

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early outcomes are already beginning to emerge. These relate primarily to broadcasters‘ own appreciation of the 

current and potential impacts of climate change on their communities and other communities in the region; their 

growing awareness of the complexity of climate change as a phenomenon; and an increase in participants‘ 

capacity to, and interest in, exploring the question of climate change within their communities. Challenges have 

also emerged around the interface of this work with competing narratives and interests which sit in tension with 

the principles and priorities that were explored in the program, as will be discussed below.  

Through capacity building workshops paired with field visits to communities affected by climaterelated impacts, 

participants report having a much more concrete understanding of the challenges that climate change may present 

to their communities. Capacity building which has emphasized both the social and physical dimensions of 

vulnerability has helped them to identify those populations who would most likely be at risk within their own 

communities, and to consider how these new vulnerabilities intersect with existing vulnerabilities they are 

already working to address through their broadcasting, such as health, sanitation, women‘s rights, and social or 

political marginalization. This points to the strength of many community radio broadcasters as partners in action 

research, as they are able to quickly re-frame new issues within the contexts of the local communities for whom 

they are advocates. The use of systemic action research—where issues of investigation are always assumed to 

be both embedded in, and influenced by, broader structural dynamics—helped to build on this strength. The 

capacity building program also identified and targeted the specific need for additional training for female 

broadcasters on the basics of climate and environmental science, and provided an additional one-day women-

only session on this, which resulted in increased confidence when those women joined the full group for the 

main training workshop.   

At the same time, growing awareness of the local dimensions of climate change has had to be presented alongside 

a framing of climate change as a global phenomenon. Establishing the link between global drivers and localized 

impacts is recognized as a major challenge to communicating climate change knowledge, as people, including 

the media, are likely to focus on localized behaviors, such as charcoal burning, deforestation, and pollution as 

the causes of climate change (BBC World Service Trust, 2009). Thus, time has been invested into pointing to 

differences (as well as similarities) between climate change and environmental degradation in order to clarify 

the global dimensions of the former, and to frame it within both notions such as climate justice and common but 

differentiated responsibilities, as well as to link advocacy at the local level to similar national and international 

struggles that are underway. Through the use of visual supports, multimedia resources, and discussions, progress 

has been made in clarifying these distinctions for participants.   

Another significant outcome of work thus far has been progress made in developing appropriate language and 

analogies to explain key climate-related concepts in local languages. Research conducted by the BBC World 

Service Trust (ibid.) notes that there is no local-language equivalent for the term ―climate change‖ in Ghana, 

and that the technical and political discourses of climate change are virtually inaccessible to those who are most 

at risk. This was echoed in capacity-building workshops with broadcasters, the majority of whom, for example, 

had never seen a greenhouse, making the notion of a ―greenhouse effect‖ difficult to illustrate. Thus, a key area 

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of focus has been on the development and testing of a glossary of climate-related terminology into the three 

languages used by the participating stations. Terms and concepts such as adaptation, vulnerability, greenhouse 

gas, and resilience were described in local languages with accompanying analogies, and participants developed 

strategies for discussing these concepts with differently-situated community members, such as village elders or 

district representatives. The term greenhouse effect, for example, was instead described through an analogy to 

closed traditional coal-fired ovens. The broadcasting teams also sought to link their new understanding of the 

drivers and impacts of climate change with proverbs, which have a powerful role in Ghanaian culture. Both of 

these activities led to a noted increase in confidence in taking these discussions back into the community and 

engaging with those who have technical expertise on climate change, such as researchers.   

Finally, there are already concrete outcomes beginning to emerge from the process at the level of the 

communities themselves. Among the more marked outcomes to date has been the initiation of new dialogue 

between community members from Azizanya (Ada), local and traditional authorities from the area, and 

neighboring communities facing similar challenges. Azizanya is a community facing rapid coastal erosion and a 

tense related conflict over land tenure rights between fishing communities and authorities looking to develop 

coastal land for tourism. Broadcasters report that the community durbar helped to renew an open (and broadened) 

dialogue on these issues, which have been the source of significant conflict and secrecy to date. In Afram Plains, 

the durbar organized by broadcasters brought district authorities into direct contact with island-dwelling 

communities for the first time outside of an election drive. The exchange highlighted the great disconnect 

between authorities and the community‘s needs, and prompted commitments of support from the District Chief 

Executive, who later attended the National Forum in Accra and reiterated this commitment in plenary discussion 

before its 130 participants.   

While this pilot research has succeeded in producing some early outcomes that have been noted above, it has 

also been useful thus far in revealing some key challenges and lessons to be learned from the initiative to date. 

Many of these are not exclusive to this approach, but should nonetheless be retained as important points of 

caution. A first such difficulty is the challenge of maintaining coherence in a complex, multi-stage process amid 

competing priorities. In the case of community radio in Ghana (and elsewhere), the largely voluntary nature of 

station staffing means that maintaining the same team of actors for an extended period of time can be challenging. 

In the context of a capacity building initiative, this can sometimes mean that certain individuals are involved in 

some elements of the work, but may then miss other key steps. This poses challenges to ensuring a broad-based 

understanding of an approach within stations. This was the case in one of the three stations involved in this study, 

and it may have influenced the outcomes that station experienced.   

Closely related to this first challenge is a second on the delivery of capacity support. One area for improvement 

in this approach which was noted by broadcasters was the need for capacity support to be maintained throughout 

the entire process, as opposed to having it emphasized at the outset. The importance of support in validating 

findings, designing broadcasts, and conducting community forums was noted, particularly as stations are using 

this approach for the first time.  

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A further challenge involves recognizing that these efforts take place within a broader social and political 

economy which may, at times, be at odds with the principles being put forward. In these cases, a key concern is 

the extent to which broadcasters can disrupt these dominant and often deeply embedded discourses while 

maintaining a community-driven dialogue. This occurred in one case, where broadcasters sought to engage 

members at a community forum on how climate change was impacting agriculture in the region, and community 

members wished to make links to the overgrazing and degradation of their lands by nomadic Fulani herdsmen, 

a group frequently at odds with the farmers of the region (Sarpong, 2006; Tonah, 2006). For broadcasters 

interested in maintaining an open dialogue who may also be sympathetic to these community viewpoints, this 

can present a significant challenge, despite the fact that such viewpoints sit in tension with the principle of 

connecting local impacts of climate change with their global drivers. As such, maintaining a balance between 

the community-driven approach pursued by both community radio and action research, and ensuring that the 

concept of global climate justice sits at the root of these investigations can prove difficult. When working with 

a topic as complex as climate change, this challenge is amplified, and it may, in fact, go beyond the capacities 

of what is achievable by broadcasters working on their own. This recalls the principle of network strengthening 

noted above, and it highlights the importance of seeing capacity as not only resident in the broadcasters 

themselves, but in a broader network of allies, collaborators, and resources upon which they can draw.  

Implications of Findings and Recommendations Challenges and Lessons Learned  

Dealing with Complexity Amid Competing Priorities  

Some of the challenges encountered and lessons learned from this initiative to date can be grouped around three 

main themes: understanding, framing, and communicating climate change; establishing appropriate partnerships; 

and building and sustaining capacity. On the first point, climate change is recognized as a complex (Rind, 1999) 

or ―wicked‖ (from a policy perspective) problem, even for those who have specialist knowledge of the issue. 

As noted above, for community radio broadcasters, most of whom are volunteers who may have had limited 

formal education (this is particularly prevalent among women in this initiative), this complexity can prove to be 

a major stumbling block in terms of linking local experience to global phenomena. This complexity is further 

complicated by frequent conflation between climate change and other environmental issues that have been 

heavily covered in the Ghanaian media in the past, particularly deforestation and depletion of the ozone layer 

(BBC World Service Trust, 2009). It has also led, as noted above, to a discourse of ―self-blame‖ within many 

African community broadcasters, who attribute poor environmental stewardship in their communities (or those 

competing with their communities for resources) to being key drivers of the rise of climate change and global 

warming, and in turn, pass this message on to their communities. In reality, sub-Saharan Africa is  responsible 

only for a fraction of global Co2 emissions (Robinson & Miller, 2009).   

This complexity has led either to limited coverage of the climate change agenda, or to the use of scripted ―kits‖ 

developed outside of the community, which are then customized for local language and context. In the case of 

GCRN, they have done programming in the past on climate change with NGO partners in Ghana, as well as 

regular programming at some of the stations on other environmental issues, but these challenges still remain 

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despite the experience they have accrued. As a result, initiatives seeking to help broadcasters produce their own 

reporting on local dimensions of climate change must invest heavily in ongoing capacity development and 

partnerships that can support these efforts. The time and resources needed for this type of investment present a 

significant challenge for stations that are largely run by volunteers, have limited financial resources to draw 

upon, and are often expected to cover the full breadth of issues relevant to community well-being, including 

health, governance, and other environmental concerns. Thus, the prioritization of climate change as an issue to 

which investments should be directed must be balanced with the perceived relative importance of the issue in 

comparison to the needs for investment in work on good governance, HIV/AIDS, land rights issues, and so on. 

In view of this, it should be expected that not all stations would see the value of devoting the required time and 

investment into this process if they are already struggling to provide adequate attention to those issues that their 

communities deem to be higher priorities.  

Framing Climate Change as a Question of Politics, Rights, and Duties  

This second point of learning may actually provide a way of addressing, or at least clarifying, the point raised 

above. In many community radio stations like those that form GCRN, addressing local dimensions of rights, 

justice, equity, and citizen empowerment are central to the stations‘ broadcasting objectives (White, 2007), and 

this presents both an opportunity and a requirement. For these stations to fully appreciate the local relevance of 

climate change and invest themselves into the development of capacities for covering it as an issue, it is essential 

that climate change be framed in the context of social and environmental rights and justice. This framing allows 

broadcasters to begin integrating climate change into the range of other interlinked issues that they are already 

covering, such as poverty, marginalization, and governance, as well as to understand its relationship with their 

communities‘ interests and challenges.   

While broadcasting that is uniquely designed to raise awareness of current and anticipated impacts of climate 

change and promote behavioral change is already used through community radio, our findings suggest that these 

broadcasts tend to provide insufficient engagement with broadcasters or stations themselves, seeing them largely 

as conduits for transmitting messages produced elsewhere. This not only undervalues the broadcasters‘ agency 

and the contributions they can make, but it also risks compounding the confusion they experience in relaying the 

latest trends that science and policy actors wish to see passed on, potentially leading to the spread of 

misinformation. Much research has suggested that radio listeners have higher levels of understanding and 

information retention when they are engaged in active listening (for example, through listening and discussion 

groups, or through call-in question and answer segments). We argue that broadcasters will serve as better 

intermediaries with local communities if they, too, are actively engaged in processes of inquiry, interpretation, 

translation, and transmission of information and messages. This perspective is very much in line with educational 

theories of inquiry-based or constructivist learning, and critical or liberation pedagogies (Freire, 1972). By 

understanding climate change in the context of the existing points of struggle in which they are already engaged 

(gender, citizen voice and participation, political accountability, social inclusion, etc.), broadcasters are able to 

embed new knowledge within these existing frameworks and improve their grasp of the issues.  

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Sustainable Partnerships  

It is important to distinguish between the types of engagement that community radio mobilizes to support and 

inform community development, and those that have become commonplace in international development 

practice. While development projects tend to be quite time-bound, targeted to a specific issue or set of 

stakeholders, implemented in an isolated manner (often independent of other initiatives which are taking place 

in the community or district, for example), and with an ―exit strategy‖ built into the project design to avoid 

creating dependency, community radio seeks to embed itself into the fabric of the community, hoping both to 

maximize community appropriation of its services (and thus its sustainability), and to cover the range of issues 

that their communities deem important. Given the different nature of engagement and incentive structures found 

in radio and development intervention, it follows that the types of partnership models each pursues differs as 

well.   

In keeping with these realities, the Climate Airwaves initiative has tried to build upon existing networked 

partnerships for capacity support for broadcasters, particularly with organizations sharing similar priorities or 

values as the broadcasters. This has meant trying to limit, for example, the role that external partners, such as 

IDS, play in the ongoing implementation of the work. It has also meant orienting the partnership toward the 

existing network of partners that GCRN has developed over the years, rather than aiming to engineer partnerships 

with new actors who may be very competent in their fields, but lack a strong desire to develop long-term alliances 

with limited financial incentives, or may simply be busy with their own initiatives. In cases where capacity 

support has been offered solely by such outside partners as IDS, we have sought to ensure that, in order to 

maximize its value, the support is aligned with the objectives of stations beyond the scope of the project itself. 

This model of partnership engagement can be challenging in projects where two quite distinct communities of 

practice are working together, but it may also be important to ensuring that stations‘ capacities to carry out this 

work do not fade over time.  

A Long-term Vision of Capacity  

Building on the points raised above, the final area of learning we wish to highlight has, so far, centered on the 

approach to collective (as well as individual) capacity building pursued through the partnership. This view of 

capacity is based on the notion that collective learning is a prerequisite to affecting broader social change (Harvey 

& Langdon, 2010), a core objective of community radio broadcasters in Ghana. It privileges work that builds 

collective capacity over work that sees individual skills development as an end in itself, and longer-term social 

change objectives over the outcomes of individual projects. This does not mean that individual development and 

shorter-term goals are not pursued, but rather, that these aims must be understood in the context of the longer-

term, more transformative aims to which they should contribute. Conversely, there may also be more targeted 

forms of capacity building that are needed in order to move toward the longer-term vision of change, such as 

strengthening women‘s capacities to engage with action research activities, as was exemplified in the case of 

GCRN.  

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Balancing an emphasis on longer-term change with demonstrating impacts in the shorter-term in this way can 

create challenges for initiatives that are funded for shorter periods of time. These realities should be 

communicated to funding partners in advance to avoid situations where donor demands are in tension with the 

aims of those who the project activities are intended to serve.  

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