At the University of Ibadan (UI) located in the south-west part of Nigeria, the environment is changing due to climate change. The perceived changes and the response of the authorities are sometimes not aligned with the expectations of the residents. There are two broad categories of residents: students who live in the hostels and staff who live in residential quarters. This work is intended to create a voice for the community online using a combination of social media tools. The content created is expected to influence the authorities decisions as regards the management of the environment.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Ibadan
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
The University of Ibadan community is made up of transiting, visiting, working and residential individuals. In the UI community, there are 3 categories of people resident: the students, the junior staff and senior staff. There is some form of geographical separation of the accomodation for these three categories. The environment differs for each of the residential areas although the same problems may be faced. The reporting mechanisms are not operational thus responses to environmental problems are based on personal influence. Each of these communities have elected officers representing them on a University Council Committee on Community Development(CCCD). The community has a population of computer literate and Internet savy youths who will participate in this project.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
1. Moyosoluwa Akinola
2. Tobiloba Adeyemi
3. Samuel Adeniyi
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The project participants will be using mobile phones as the major tool. Thus visual, audio and textual content will be created. The news, stories and content created will be published as a blog and used an input at the University Council Committee on Community Development (CCCD) meetings. The visual, audio and textual content developed will also be used to create presentations to the Physical Planning Unit of the University. The contents created will be archived for future references especially the visual ones. The audio content will be used as podcasts that will be available online and as content for the University community radio.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established or plan to establish that will contribute to the success of the project.
- training facilities exist in the academic area that will be used (existing)
– University Council Committee on Community Development (CCCD) (existing)
– Dean of Students will coordinate student participation (future)
– Students (future)
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
The project will work with about a hundred and fifty (150) persons. The training will be done in groups.
The participants will be motivated through the provision of airtime corresponding to their contribution to the content generated on a weekly basis.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
As the project organizer, I bring web development, training, communication and management skills to the project. Partners with skills in news interview and reporting, photography and blogging have been identified and invited to join the team.
The Mobile Phone is the most appropriate technology for this community. Everyone owns a mobile phone that can at least send text messages. Smartphones are available that allow audio and video recording.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
The training will hold in the Zinox Laboratory of the Department of Computer Science, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The laboratory contains 50 computer systems connected to the Internet.
There is a movable projector and white board for presentations.
An alternative electical power source (generator) is also available.
What is your current relationship with the community with whom you plan to work? What makes you the most appropriate individual or organization to implement this project?
I live and work in the community. I am a member of the University Council Committee on Community Development (CCCD).
I am the most appropriate because management decisions affect me as a resident. If I am able to present personal stories on environmental issues as they relate to the community, which will aid policy development and environmental action.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
The availability of students for the project due to break in studies. The project span will only be for the school session for student participant. Thus, training and implementation will maximize their time in school.
Participants would require Internet access or data plans on their mobile phones to send reports, pictures and video. This would be reduced by giving stipends to cover the airtime required for weekly access based on the number of content created. Also the Zinox Laboratory will be opened for three hours after normal office hours to accommodate those who would rather use the computer system.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
The project success will be determined using the following:
– the interest generated by the possibilities of having a voice in decision-making as it relates to the environment on the university campus
– number/frequency of content created per participant
– management response to feedback either through action or policy development
– frequency and quality of contributions to issues raised by non-participants via online media
– the number of visitors to the blog
– the number of environmental decisions and actions supported by the community
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
June – July 2014 Project Advertisement & Participant selection
August 2014 Training
September -December 2014 Project Execution
-Participants generate story
– content edited
-stories put on blogs, etc
– Review of activites and quality of content
-blog linked to UI, intranet
– content used for local publications
-content played on community radio
– content included in campus video series
January 2015 Project Report
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Airtime – 1000
workshop – 500
Travel – 100
Refreshments – 300
Advertisement – 300
Coordinator – 200
Others – 100
Total $2500
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
Rising voices can support this project with
– training materials on reporting, photography,
– online space to archive the content created
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Contact name
Sheyi Osunade
