Communications Master Class in India
April 20, 2015
Our Master Class in Communicating Research to Stakeholders travelled to India and was supported by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for their partners from national agricultural research institutions in India, Nepal and the Philippines working on stress tolerant rice projects.
There is a growing appreciation in agricultural research institutions and developmental organizations in both developing and developed countries alike of the need to justify investment in agricultural research and development. The week-long course helps agricultural scientists to tell the story of their work and its impact to a broad range of non-scientific audiences in funding agencies, other interested stakeholders such as policy and planning personnel, farmers and extension agencies and to the general public through the media.
“This Master Class has now been held in Asia, Africa and the Pacific and the response from participants and their supporting institutions has been very positive,” said Cathy Reade, the Fund’s Director of Public Affairs and Communication.
Cathy manages and helps facilitate the training with Jenni Metcalfe from Econnect Communication and Toss Gascoigne from Gascoigne & Associates. Jenni and Toss bring experience and resources from decades of training in Australia and overseas, and a range of journalists and stakeholders were also part of the training.
“It’s pleasing to note that this Master Class for the International Rice Research Institute resulted from the enthusiasm of Dr Manzoor Dar, Senior Associate Scientist, and Project Leader at IRRI who participated in our first Master Class, held in Thailand back in 2011. I’d particularly like to thank Manzoor and his staff, as well as IRRI and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for supporting the Master Class and showing their understanding of the importance of communication of their work. We were particularly happy to have senior IRRI and ICAR staff fly in from Delhi for the opening and closing sessions,” said Cathy.
You can read feedback from Master Class participants at the link below.
Previous courses have ongoing impacts when participants return to their home countries. You can read about the Master Classes held in Fiji in 2014 and the one held in Nairobi in March 2015.
IRRI organised a wonderful set of cultural visits during the training and so participants could enjoy the beauty of Srinagar.
Reports from the Master Class in India will be published on the website when they are available.
