Әлеуметтік дамуды жеделдетуде коммуникацияның ролі

Use of communication to facilitate social development

Development communication refers to the use of communication to facilitate social development. Development communication engages stakeholders and policy makers, establishes conducive environments, assesses risks and opportunities and promotes information exchange to create positive social change via sustainable development. Development communication techniques include information dissemination and education, behavior change, social marketing, social mobilization, media advocacy, communication for social change, and community participation. Development communication has been labeled as the "Fifth Theory of the Press", with "social transformation and development", and "the fulfillment of basic needs" as its primary purposes. Jamias articulated the philosophy of development communication which is anchored on three main ideas. Their three main ideas are: purposive, value laden, and pragmatic. Nora C. Quebral expanded the definition, calling it "the art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and the mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth that makes possible greater social equality and the larger fulfillment of the human potential". Melcote and Steeves saw it as "emancipation communication", aimed at combating injustice and oppression. According to Melcote (1991) in Waisbord (2001), the ultimate goal of development communication is to raise the quality of life of the people, including; to increase income and wellbeing, eradicate social injustice, promote land reforms and freedom of speech

The practice of development communication began in the 1940s, but widespread application came about after World War II. The advent of communication sciences in the 1950s included recognition of the field as an academic discipline, led by Daniel Lerner, Wilbur Schramm and Everett Rogers. Both Childers and Quebral stressed that DC includes all means of communication, ranging from mass media from people to people. According to Quebral (1975), the most important feature of Philippines style development communications is that the government is the "chief designer and administrator of the master (development) plan wherein, development communication, in this system then is purposive, persuasive, goal directed, audience oriented, and interventionist by nature".

Various schools of development communication arose in response to challenges and opportunities in individual countries. Manyozo (2006) broke the field into six schools. The "Bretton Woods" school was originally dominant in international literature. The others were the Latin American, Indian, African, Los Baños and participatory schools. In 1961, Pope John XXIII, writing on the topic "Christianity and Social Progress", produced an encyclical entitled Mater et magistra (Mother and Teacher), which taught that the "Church is called in truth, justice and love to cooperate in building with all men and women an authentic communion. In this way, economic growth will not be limited to satisfying men's needs, but it will also promote their dignity". Then in 1967, Pope Paul VI published Populorum Progressio(Progressive Development). In it the Pope underscored the importance of justice, peace, and development by declaring that "development is the new name of peace". Addressing development workers, he said, "genuine progress does not consist in wealth sought for personal comfort or for its own sake; rather it consists in an economic order designed for the welfare of the human person, where the daily bread that each man receives reflects the glow of brotherly love and the helping hand of God". Pope John VI wrote that the Church's very nature was missionary (Lumen gentium – Light of the Nations), and its deepest identity (Evangelii nuntiandi – Sharing the Gospel) embracing the entire life of the Church (Redemptoris missio – Mission of the Redeemer). The content communicated through mission is transformative and liberating—manifested in the message to the poor, setting the captives free, giving sight to the blind (Luke 4:18 (KJV)), defending the interest of ordinary laborers and the value of work (Laborem exercens – Through Work), promoting the welfare of the widows and the orphans and protecting the rights of children and infants (Pacem in terris – Peace on Earth). The importance of engagement for social transformation and development is also asserted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that, "as far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life; the manner of this participation may vary from one country or culture to another as with any ethical obligation, the participation of all in realizing the common good calls for a continually renewed conversion of the social partners" (pp. 1915–1916). Moreover, Gaudium et spes (Joy and Hope), commonly referred to as the Magna Carta of the Catholic Church's teaching on human dignity, states, "to satisfy the demands of justice and equity, strenuous efforts must be made, without disregarding the rights of persons or the natural qualities of each country, to remove as quickly as possible the immense economic inequalities which now exist and in many cases are growing and which are connected with individual and social discrimination". The involvement of many organizations and individual members of the Catholic Church in highlighting the plight of the needy and reaching out to the disadvantaged through works in education, health, livelihood projects, among others, serves as a concrete example of a Church that communicates a transformative and life changing message. The Church advocates "establishing new relationships in human society, under the mastery and guidance of truth, justice, charity and freedom—relations between individual citizens, between citizens and their respective States, between States, and finally between individuals, families, intermediate associations and States on the one hand, and the world community on the other". instructed Christian communicators to "interpret modern cultural needs, committing themselves to approaching the communications age not as a time of alienation and confusion, but as a valuable time for the quest for the truth and for developing communion between persons and peoples".

The Bretton Woods school of development communication paralleled the economic strategies outlined in the Marshall Plan, the Bretton Woods system and of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1944. The little used name served to differentiate the original paradigm from other schools that evolved later. Leading theorists included Daniel Lerner, Wilbur Schramm and Everett Rogers. Due to his pioneering influence, Rogers was referred to as "one of the founding fathers of development communication." This approach to development communication was criticized by Latin American researchers such as Luis Ramiro Beltan and Alfonso Gumucio Dagron, because it emphasized problems in the developing nation rather than its unequal relation with developed countries. They claimed that it proposed industrial capitalism as a universal solution and that many projects failed to address obstacles such as lack of access to land, agricultural credits, and fair market prices. Failed projects in the 1960s led to revisions. Manyozo found that the school had been the most dynamic in testing and adopting new approaches and methodologies. Other influential theorists include Juan Diaz Bordenave, Luis Ramiro Beltran, and Alfonso Gumucio Dagron (Manyozo 2006, Manyozo, 2005).

Organized development communication in India began with rural radio broadcasts in the 1940s. Broadcasts adopted indigenous languages to reach larger audiences. Organized efforts in India started with community development projects in the 1950s. The government, guided by socialist ideals and politicians, started many development programs. Field publicity was employed for person to person communication. The radio played an important role in reaching the masses because literacy was low. Educational institutions – especially agricultural universities, through their extension networks – and international organizations under the United Nations umbrella experimented with development communication. Non governmental organizations (NGOs) relied on close inter personal relations among communicators. Communication from the government was more generic and unidirectional. So called Public Information Campaigns were government sponsored public fairs in remote areas that presented entertainment along with information on social and developmental schemes. Villagers engaged in competitions to attract attendees. Public and private organizations sponsored stalls in the main exhibition area. Development agencies and service/goods providers also attended. Some state governments employed this model. Community radio was used in rural India. NGOs and educational institutions created local stations to broadcast information, advisories and messages on development. Local participation was encouraged. Community radio provided a platform for villagers to publicize local issues, offering the potential to elicit action from local officials. The widespread adoption of mobile telephony in India created new channels for reaching the masses.

In Thailand, development communication is presently overseen by Kasetsart University through its International Center for Development Communication (ICDC). The center's vision is to be a leading centre of excellence in development training, communication and consultancy services. As an extension arm of Kasetsart University its international service mission includes building and maintaining quality services to support organizations in their efforts for sustainable development in social and economic sectors.

The design and implementation of policies is becoming more complex, and the number and type of actors involved in policy implementation more diverse; "Stakeholder" has been variously defined according to the goal of the analysis, the analytic approach or the policy area. Where several groups of stakeholders are involved in the policy process, a stakeholder analysis can provide a useful resource. Stakeholder analysis can help analyze the behavior, intentions, interrelations, agendas, interests and the resources of stakeholders in the policy processes. According to Flor, a stakeholder analysis of communication policy would reveal the interplay of the following sectors:
Government – Enacts all communication policies, making it the most powerful stakeholder. Education sector – Conducts research that underlies subsequent policies. Communication industry – Influences communication policies. May adopt self regulation to avoid/delay government regulation. For example, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas and the Philippine Press Institute institute ethics codes. Private sector – Avoid policies that limit content and to protect themselves from opponents. Religious sector – Traditionally opposes policies that allow obscenity, violence and profanity to be distributed. Foreign interests – e. g., international lending agencies may demand the end of monopolies—including state media entities—as a condition for financial aid. Consumers – Traditionally not consulted, but more recently claiming to protect the public interest. The United Nations has recognised the importance of "the need to support two way communication systems that enable dialogue and that allow communities to express their aspirations and concerns and participate in decisions " Such two way interactions can help expose local reality. Keune and Sinha claim that community involvement in development communication policy is important, as they are the "ultimate and perhaps the most important beneficiaries of development communication policies and planning".

Hamelink and Nordenstreng called for multistakeholder participation in information and communications technology (ICT) governance and for formal and informal policy development mechanisms to enable state and non state actors to shape the media and communication industries.

The atmosphere of participation created by recent administrations has brought about a more significant role for the development communication specialist/ policy scientist. His involvement in communication policymaking is facilitated by the so called institutionalization of people power. His expertise may be directly tapped by the most important stakeholder, the media consumer. The participation of information users and media consumers in policy making may be realized by the formation of a nationwide media consumer's organization or a federation of local organizations of this nature in which policy analysts play a significant role. This proposed organization could initiate media education in the formal and non formal modes. Media education at the formal level may be facilitated by lobbying for the inclusion of such in existing secondary and tertiary curricula. Non formal education may be conducted through media consumer sponsored awareness campaigns. This organization could also conduct its own audience related studies and policy research. It could establish a nationwide network involving the church, academic communities, grassroots organizations and cause oriented groups. Communication policy scientists may also serve as part of the staff of our legislators in the Congress and Senate. In their private capacities, they can form research and development outfits or "think tanks" whose services may be availed of by government agencies. Indeed, now is a fortuitous time for policy engagement in development communication. These policies are stated/embedded in "legislation, conditions, codes of conduct, rules and proceedings" or implied/suggested "in accepted practices." He adds that they are present "at the national, institutional and professional levels." By citing a Unesco report made by experts on communication and planning, Lee defines communication policies as "sets of principles and norms established to guide the behaviour of communication systems." He adds that the dimensions of communication policies as well as communication planning encompass the communication system, its components and structures; the functions of the system; the "clients" or audience using the system; the types of information carried by the system and its components; the values and qualities of the information content; and a variety of considerations about the system, its functions, audience, types of information and qualities. Members of the audience are classified based on such characteristics as age, sex, occupations, socio economic strata, urban rural (locations) and persuasions. Types of information refer to the conversation, cultural forms, data, education, entertainment, general information, music, news and opinion. Meanwhile, truth, objectivity, relevance, educational effectiveness, violence, humour, sex, libel are examples of values and qualities of the information content. According to Lee, the "consideration, identification and determination" of the scope of specific communication systems and societal principles and norms are needed in formulating communication policies. In his paper, Lee also discusses participation in the formulation of communication policies by asking, "Who is involved?" and identifying the stakeholders. They are government executive, legislative bodies, authorities in charge of social and economic planning, individual ministries and their planning boards, communication enterprises, professional organizations, the citizen, the social scientist and the economist. E. Lloyd Sommerland, UNESCO Regional Communication Adviser for Asia, points out the difference between communication policies and communication planning by saying that the former provides "the principles, rules and guidelines on which the communication system is built," while the latter is concerned with the policy implementation. He shares that every country engages in development planning that touches different sectors of a society like "agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, education, health, transport and communication, social and community services." At the heart of these plans for development is communication. "Communication is part and parcel of this whole process of development and needs its own infrastructure," said Summerland. The word "communication" in this particular context includes telecommunications, mass media (print and broadcast), face to face communication and traditional channels and these are resources tapped by a society "to enable information to flow within it", he adds. The author emphasizes the role of communication in national development. Sommerland also underlines that communication policies are not the ends and they provide a framework for action. He makes a reference to what a UNESCO expert group has said that behind these policies is strategic planning. "(It) determines the alternative ways to achieve long range goals and sets the frame of reference for shorter range operational planning. Strategic planning translates into quantified targets and systematic approaches, the general objectives of communication policies," he says. Sommerland also supports some claims of Lee that communication policies are either embedded or implied in the existing policies of a nation. "For a country to try and formulate a coherent national communication policy does not, of course, imply that no policies in this area already exist," the former says. " Because communication is interdisciplinary and because it is the thread which binds a nation together, communication policies even if incomplete and implicit, are to be found in many different parts of a political and social system.

In the aim to address and solve the myriad of societal problems of various contexts, the policy sciences are important to be able to have a more structured operational and strategic plan. In view of this, the role of social marketing and social mobilization are deemed necessary to achieve the goal of the policy sciences by purposively crafting and implementing target specific plans and programs for positive societal change. Social marketing (soc mar) and social mobilization (soc mob) are utilized to facilitate development (Velasco, Cadiz, and Lumanta, 1999). Development, as defined by Gonzales (n. d.), is "a quest for an improved quality of life for all." Moreover, Gonzales (n. d.) describes development as multidimensional (possesses political, economic, social, cultural, institutional, and environmental dimensions), multidisciplinary (draws from various disciplines), interdisciplinary (derives comprehensive, strategic, and operational plans for implementation from relationships between and among disciplines), and integrative (unifies diverse orientation to allow inter penetration among disciplines). Therefore, the mobilization of people and resources is essential in the quest for development. "True development is people oriented and participatory, bringing about people empowerment. It uses technology in harmony with the environment. It aims to be relevant, responsive, effective, efficient, economical, equitable, and sustainable" (Gonzales in Velasco, Cadiz, and Lumanta, 1999).

Social marketing and social mobilization combined creates a more powerful movement as both elements strengthen each other. Social mobilization prompts the use of social marketing strategies to attain the main objectives of a program. Likewise, social marketing intensifies social mobilization as it upholds a people centered approach in putting together activities through the use of different media, in achieving the development goal. As an illustration, the interplay of social marketing and social mobilization is manifested in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of different organizations. Development Communication can be defined as a "dialogue based process entailing the strategic application of communication approaches, methods and/or technologies for social change". This definition highlights the three important features of development communication – process, analytical activity based on dialogue, and aims to achieve change. Strategic Communication is essential in encouraging public participation and achieving effective policy making. It affects goal setting, decision making, development and implementation, and impact assessment. However, communication as a strategic tool remains deficient in development programs creating the need to establish an Interest Group on Strategic Communication for Sustainable Development. Strategic communication "aims at the innovative and sustainable change of practices, behaviors and lifestyles, guides communication processes and media interventions within and among social groups". An effective strategy for sustainable development integrates the vision and action plan of the government, civil society and the private sector. The World Bank views development communication as the "integration of strategic communication in development projects" based on a clear understanding of indigenous realities.

Development communication efforts, along with other development strategies, have failed to improve the conditions of women on a global scale, and when compared with men, women are disproportionately subject to poverty, illiteracy, domestic violence, discrimination, and barriers to senior professional positions, even in development organizations (Harbour & Twist, 1996). As a group that is marginalized from global, national, and community power structures, Wilkins (1999) contends that women tend to constitute a target more often than a participant in the production of development communication. Moore (1995) estimated that "gender" made its "first discursive appearance" in development institutions during the 1960s (p. 43). However, it was not until 1975 that women's contributions to the development process were formally acknowledged by the United Nations (UN). The mid 1970s marked a shift in attention to women in development, along with other critical transitions in the field of development communication (Rogers, 1976; Schramm & Lerner, 1976). A WID strategy advocated including women as an explicit focus in order to achieve development goals (Dagenais & Piché, 1994). In 1975, WID was placed on a global agenda when the UN sponsored a conference in Mexico City to launch the Year of Women. This facilitated the designation of the Decade for the Advancement of Women (1976 until 1985). As a discourse, WID served to organize principles for the production of knowledge about women by states, institutions, and communities (Escobar, 1995, p. 210). WID construed women as actively contributing to society through their economic production and human reproduction (Staudt, 1985). WID also pointed to a need to improve women's access to education, employment, and political participation (Valdivia, 1996), conditions considered in earlier models of modernization that tended to privilege male constituents. Throughout the Decade for the Advancement of Women however, several scholars recognized limits to using media to promote social change, such as problematic stereotypes of women in media texts, a lack of women's employment in positions of power in media industries, and poor access to mediated technologies as a source of information, particularly among rural women. Following the Decade for Women, attention to WID gradually shifted toward a concern with gender and development (GAD). This shift from "women" to "gender" resonates with an understanding of gender as a socially constructed category, rather than essentializing sex as a biological condition (Dagenais & Piché, 1994). GAD attempted to position women as active agents of social change situated within social and structural systems of patriarchy and power (Dagenais & Piché, 1994). Steeves (1993) drew attention to critical scholarship about the political economy of communication and participatory approaches to development (Freire, 1983) to propose the creation of a global, imagined feminist community that challenges power relations. A "global feminist" approach to development would critique what appears to be defining gender according to reproductive capacity in a way that promotes motherhood as a universal role for women, rather than celebrating diversity in women's intentions, experiences, backgrounds, and capabilities. Hooda and Singh (2012) note that the most significant and longest social movement continuing is the movement for the emancipation of women. However, the primary goal for women empowerment is to improve the quality of life of women, but also has deep ramifications in social, economic and political scenario of body polity. It is such contentions that stressing the need to recognize power dimensions within women's domestic, professional, and social contexts, GAD proponents would advocate interventions designed to change structures or norms. Development communication activity embodies models of social change that are implemented across political and cultural boundaries wherein, issues of gender, communication, and development are grounded in global structures and processes of power, which condition access to and acquisition of economic and social resources. Watkins (1999) notes that in as much as critical scholars have described the global domination of media systems by Western and corporate agencies, gender also factors into this equation, as the extensive documentation of the tendency of media industries to trivialize women's roles and concerns has been historically demonstrated (van Zoonen, 1994). Early scholars of development communication did not explicitly address the role of gender in their discussions of media and modernity (Watkins, 1999, p. 48). However, an examination of their work illustrates implicit assumptions made about men's and women's roles in the development process. There is thus a need to understand the dynamics contributing to the institutional construction of gender within development communication strategies designed to alleviate social problems. Watkins (1999) cites Steeves (1993) whose summary of feminist scholarship concluded that, among other areas, research is needed "on women's roles and representations in Third World development communication activities, including funding agency projects" (p. 120). Along with integrating regional, national, and/or organizational perspectives, one specific tool for policymakers is ensuring that gender perspective is incorporated into policies. Regardless whether gender plays a central role in a development communication policy, the policy making process has to be taken in a deliberate way to address concerns of both women and men. When views of different groups of women and men in policy formation and delivery are taken accordingly, misjudging of the different effects on each group, and the systems and organizations that support them can be avoided. In a quest to ensure that the overall legal and policy framework is promoting gender equality, more than just adopting laws that explicitly provide for gender equality can be done. Thus it is essential that all laws and policies reflect gender equality considerations, through a process called gender mainstreaming. Gender mainstreaming is the mechanism to ensure a gender sensitive approach to policy making. Gender mainstreaming, according to the United Nations, is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality. Mainstreaming is not an end in itself but a strategy, an approach, a means to achieve the goal of gender equality. Mainstreaming involves ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities—policy development, research, advocacy/ dialogue, legislation, resource allocation, and planning, implementation and monitoring of programmes and projects. A strong, continued commitment to gender mainstreaming is one of the most effective means for the United Nations to support promotion of gender equality at all levels—in research, legislation, policy development and in activities on the ground, and to ensure that women as well as men can influence, participate in and benefit from development efforts. United Nations Children's Fund or UNICEF also promotes gender sensitivity in its policies. UNICEF gender review ensures that gender is mainstreamed in all UNICEF's projects and programs as well as in its work with partners. UNICEF also ensures that the monitoring and evaluation tools are gender sensitive and that every staff is aware of the UN Code of conduct. UNICEF also uses the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines (HGAD) as a tool to promote gender equality and women's empowerment in the development and implementation of projects. The communication approach embedded within empowerment models combines the use of appropriate media. This means using a variety of channels ranging from indigenous media, local and international media systems. (Einsiedel 1996).

Defined as the statistical study of populations, Demography is seen as more of a general science that can analyze populations that show change over a period of time. However, in combination with the more specific aspect of communication that has to do with social sciences, demographics can be a significant factor and consequently influencer of Development Communication policy design. Population changes are brought about by birth, migration and mortality. These demographic processes affect the use of resources, nation building and society formation, and cultural development calling for development communication policies. Researcher for the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Sebastian Klüsener "investigated how the exchange of ideas and information between people could affect the development of spatial, temporal, and social differences in demographic change. The results highlight that communication plays a much larger role in shaping demographic processes " In her discussion of the relationship between communicators and their audiences, Natalie T. J. Tindall, an associate professor in the department of communication at Georgia State University, US, shares "Demographic categories can still tell us a lot about our social structure, and continue to be useful for macro level understandings of people and societies." It is with this understanding that policies can be designed more tailor fit to those it is designed for. Furthermore, the criterion by which a demography is performed are relevant factors that may act as a roadmap that can guide development communication policy making. This includes but is not limited to age, level of education, gender distribution profile, individual and household income, etc. With the anticipatory objective of policy sciences in relation to crisis or problem solving, the better policy makers get a grasp of how a population is demographically—not just socially—the more sensitive and pro active policy making as a process can be. When perspectives of an accurate cross sectional sampling of a population, group, or culture are taken into consideration, the ensuing policies are better geared towards the pre set objectives. Scalone, Dribe, and Klusener have further found that "Communication can significantly increase the impact of population relevant policies and other processes of social change "

The process approach deals directly with the communication planning process which deals to the theories within the planning process that asserts that planning is the application of theory on how and why they are used. (UNESCO, 1980) The second is it deals with the planning process itself that provide alternative ways of organizing the planning function and process, given different purposes and planning contexts. (UNESCO, 1980) The thrust of the argument is that there are alternatives to the widely known rational/comprehensive planning approach (UNESCO, 1980). contributed three key qualities of modernization theory and practice: blaming the victim, Social Darwinism, and sustaining class structure of inequality. (1) Blaming the victim is an ideological process, an almost painless circumvention among policy makers and intellectual all over the world. It is a process of justifying inequality in society by finding defects in the victims of inequality. The policymakers simply blame the despondent lives led by the poor in Third World countries and it is being attributed to the lack of motivation and access to information relating to the various social and economic aspects that they need in order to redeem themselves. (2) Social Darwinists believed that government interventions on behalf of the poor would have disastrous results since they would interfere with the laws of natural selection. The theorist believed that outside interventions to address matters concerning the poor would have dreadful results since these would be interfering with a natural course of events and individual choices and rights. (3) Sustaining class structure of inequality, this is a capitalist interest and quite difficult to overcome. The effect of a focus on individual level cultural deficiencies has been to sustain the status quo within and between unequal societies and thus delay change.

The systems approach in communication planning deals on how to establish new systems within organizations (UNESCO, 1980). This approach is valuable to planners faced with the task of setting up organizational systems to carry out communication functions (UNESCO, 1980). This approach can also be best applied to problems in the environment, providing planners with an analytical perspective on problem analysis and a range of techniques to use in implementing this perspective (UNESCO, 1980).

Government officials and policy makers in both developed and developing countries are often confronted with problems for which they have no design solutions. Every problem, country and culture requires a specific approach and seems to go through policy life cycle. Winsemius proposed four phases of policy cycle;
Phase 1: Recognizing the problem; groups in the society such as government official, lobbyists and countries' leaders recognize the problem, e. g. terrorism, poverty, global warming, and other. The problem is made known to all stakeholders, during this stage the members realized that problem should be tackled through policy. Phase 2: Gaining Control over the Problem; at this point, the government start to advance in their mechanisms through the formulation of policies. Policy oriented research is often appointed to scientific institutions, opinion surveys are piloted, and options for improving and solving the problem are accounted. Phase 3: Solving the Problem; at this stage, policies, programs and projects are implemented. In most cases, the government will manage all the details of a program by itself but the best scenario is when NGOs and other involved groups participate in the initiatives. Phase 4: Monitoring the Problem: At this point the focus is to ensure that the problem is under control and must remain so. This is also the time to think about future policies and to develop public and private partnerships in implementing policies.

Policy analysis has traditionally followed a linear model – problem identification, policy formulation, legislation, implementation, evaluation, and iteration. However, in solving complex socio economic problems, a more interdisciplinary approach to societal problems may be more effective particularly for research topics of interdisciplinary nature (e. g., women's studies, environment) or those relevant to policy or strategic issues – drawing from different disciplines to enhance understanding of particular issues or for concept development. The main interest of interdisciplinary research for policy and practice is description, prediction, and ultimately social action. In interdisciplinary research, different disciplines interact and work together at each and every stage of the research process – from conceptualisation, research design and methodology, data analysis and interpretation into policy development.

Ongkiko and Flor (2006)). CTA is a qualitative method that seeks to determine the higher and lower order impacts of specific forms of communication technology on the individual and society (Flor, 1991) prior to the adoption of new technology (Ongkiko & Flor, 2006 In this case, it should provide an unbiased analysis and information concerning the physical, biological, economic, social, and political effects of [communication] technologies. identifies the types of cost analysis used in policy making to aid decision process. These are: Cost Benefit analysis, Cost effectiveness, cost utilization and cost utility.

Pathak (n. d.) explains that Social Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) is also referred to as Economic Analysis (EA). SCBA or EA is a feasibility study of a project from the viewpoint of a society to evaluate whether a proposed project will add benefit or cost to the society (Ibid.). Ongkiko and Flor (2006 Hence, the objective is to determine optimum quantities as a contribution to decision making or to evaluate the effectiveness of decisions already taken. that seeks to discover the influential factors

According to Kennan and Hazleton (2006) in their theory of internal public relations, they said that effective communication is based on social capital. Social capital is the ability of the organization to achieve desirable organizational goals, which could be through employee satisfaction, commitment, productivity and customer satisfaction. Shockley Zalabak et al. (2000) argued that trust is a social capital. Sockley Zalabak's found that trust is linked to lower incidents of litigation and legislation. It also directly affects an organization's ability to deal with change and crisis. They also found that trust influences job satisfaction, productivity and team building. Corporate communication policies are essential in sustaining an organization. It can make or break your business and thus have to be explicitly communicated especially when dealing with complex issues and rapid changes in a turbulent market. Source: Employee/Organizational Communications by Bruce Berger (2008). Employee / Organizational Communications

Policy science is the bedrock in developing environmental and social movement to address immense issue and predicament regarding environmental depletion and societal development. However, there are three components to be considered when addressing about the issue and talking about development (economy, environment, and society). The most prevalent phenomenon bound to become increasingly imperative through the ongoing dual process of economic cum ecological globalization wherein the process of constructing policies for sustainable development is essential. The concept of "policy science" plays a central role in the development; therefore, the incorporation and synchronization of communication and policy science in tackling the challenges encountered is valuable. The communicators are critical contributors to societal development and environmental sustainability wherein the basis could be aided as the framework for policy analysis and policy construction. At these science policy interfaces, policymakers, communicators and other key stakeholders are supposed to interact on a constant basis. Development with emphasis on environmental communication instrument guided by the policy science is a trending topic. Indeed, the consideration of environmental communication in developing policy to handle the enduring distresses act as catalyst for policy makers to unravel protuberant concern. Numerous countries that have developed or are developing when surfacing about the environment is essentially crucial as the development that is being misguided by the policy science will lead to a plethora of environmental crisis. Therefore, policy creation in fostering environmental communication is vital as it has significantly contributed to the totality growth of economy and serve as a platform to raise key questions that positively helpful in decision making. Environmental communication, defined as " the medium that we use in constructing environmental problems and negotiating communities different responses to them. The development of environmental policy instruments at the national level has a positive influence on environmental management at other levels and all sectors. However, the requirement in developing "environmental communication instrument" is essential to lay the foundation for the framework to understand the environmental communication policy science in stimulating for development into top down stream from national level. Communication in the environmental sector that is primarily formally regulated by access to information and participation legal acts, has great potential, if an immense variety of well developed and continuously emerging new environmental communication forms represented by different sectors and target groups, are utilized for the common goal of sustainable development. Setting policy to promote environmental communication for development is essential. However, understanding environmental communication instruments especially the broad spectrum of technical content and social consideration to lever the consequences should not be deserted.

In the book "Beyond Access and Equity: Distance Learning Models in Asia", Flor (2002) details the case of SMP Terbuka, a junior secondary education in Indonesia delivered in distance learning mode. This is in consonance with the country's pursuit of the Universalization of Basic Education. In assessing the socio cultural environment of SMP Terbuka and in determining the policy environment for distance learning, environmental scanning was done. The study also used the problematique method to analyze structural organizational problems in a distance learning system, along with their causes. Overall, a systems analysis approach was employed where the environment, the stakeholders, the organization cum network, and problem structure were analyzed. Flor proceeds with a proposed communication and advocacy plan for SMP Terbuka aimed at eliciting public support to this alternative education mode. In designing the social marketing and advocacy blueprint, situation analysis was used. This employed four methods, namely, "environmental scanning, communication resources assessment; review of existing communication strategies; and strategic impact analysis directed at sector stakeholders".

It is a complex task to achieve effectiveness in development policy especially in rural areas. It involves a range of stakeholders who need to demonstrate coordinated action. Sunitiyoso et al. (2012) claim that holistic thinking is needed to solve public policy problems which requires collaborative efforts across different organizational boundaries. The government through its administration must show vigor and integrity to implement these programs. Development policy makers must consider providing education and sustained training in order to materialize the programs provided to the beneficiaries. Sustained training does not only rely to ICT, it also needs emotional quotient to motivate beneficiaries to get involved and develop a sense of ownership. President Julius K. Nyerere once stated that the people must participate in considering, planning, and implementing their development (in Tanganyika African National Union, 1971 ). Therefore, development can only be achieved when people develop themselves. This has been realized by not only socialist and communist nations, but also by capitalist nations such as Singapore and South Korea. Self development is usually accompanied by social mobilization by political parties, non government organizations and workers from the academe. Scholars have proposed categories for the analysis of changes present in the research and policy sectors. What generates lack of accord between the effectiveness of development communication policy is the unrealized link between the importance of research and development to policy making. As compared to Europe, the United States and Latin America, the challenges of knowledge and technology transfer have been solved in the forefront of attention in economic, social and industrial policy.

There has been shift of policy making from academic sources of development relations between government, academia and industry, and scholars often refer this as "triple helix model". Henry Etzkowitz defines it as "a spiral model of innovation that captures multiple reciprocal relationships at different points in the process of knowledge capitalization." The fundamental characteristic that distinguishes development communication from traditional views of mass communication is its purposive nature. According to Flor, policies, being guidelines, imply that certain directions are already assumed. Development communication and the policies sciences stem from the same rationale, which is the need for actively applying knowledge form and principles of the social sciences in order to solve large scale societal problems under the premise of social change. Policy sciences are concerned with knowledge of and in the decision processes of the public and civic order. Knowledge of the decision process implies systematic, empirical studies of how policies are made and put into effect. When knowledge is systematic, it goes beyond the aphoristic remarks that are strewn through the "wisdom" literature of the past. As Flor stated, "informatization comes with the Information Age. All aspects of society – politics, culture, business and economy – have become increasingly information oriented. Information gives rise to economies and societies wherein information, naturally, becomes the dominant commodity or resource. Concomitant to informatization is the globalization of the economy. The communications or information revolution has tended to shrink the size of the world, figuratively. Instant communication between two persons situated at opposite sides of the globe is a common occurrence. Distance no longer serves as a minor factor in communication."

An information society should be differentiated from Information Age. An information society refers to a social system, meanwhile, the Information Age refers to an era in human civilization, a worldwide phenomenon. It is possible for people to live in an information age but not in an information society. Observations have also pointed that the trend towards information societies can be found in the Third World. For example, in Asia, certain trends that are indifferent to political developments show that Asia is moving towards that direction. These trends include: the growing demand for mobile devices and software, broadband, Wi Fi, wi max services, and even online educational programs. which was adopted in 2012, intends to help developing countries make use of the potential of ICTs to improve the delivery of public services; drive innovations and productivity gains; and improve competitiveness. Under the strategy, the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) focus on three priorities: (1) Transformation, by making developments more open and accountable and improving service delivery; (2) Connectivity, by scaling up affordable access to broadband including for women, disabled citizens, disadvantaged communities and people living in remote and rural areas; and (3) Innovation, by developing competitive IT based industries and fostering ICT innovation with a focus on job creation. Nascent technologies, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, are also set to reshape the development landscape. The United Nations, through its Virtual Reality Series Project, has tapped virtual reality to build platforms for advocacy, awareness, and fundraising. Its VR production titled Clouds over Sidra earned accolades for shedding light on the conditions of some 84,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan's Za'atari camp. HTC, developer of the Vive VR system, also supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals through its "VR for Impact" program, which seeks to "create a pathway to global peace and prosperity together". In terms of policy implication, the immersive experience brought about by VR is expected "to elevate the voices of those who often do not have a say, bringing peoples' voices directly into the decision making process".

The rapid transformation of technology has revolutionized the way we communicate. As a result, more and more people are getting "wired", which means connected to the Internet. The explosion of information creates an interconnected global village where everyone can easily connect and transact business in a flick of a second. This explosion of information however has widen the gap between the information rich and the information poor creating Digital Divide. Groups or communities that can afford technologies and has full access to the internet are the information rich while the underprivileged are the information poor.

International communication, the intellectual field that deals with issues of mass communication at a global level, is sometimes also called development communication. This field includes the history of the telegraph, submarine communication cables, shortwave or international broadcasting, satellite television, and global flows of mass media. Today it includes issues of the Internet in a global perspective and the use of new technologies such as mobile phones.

Development in the community has been observed critically not only the stakeholders but also the public themselves. Being one the recipients of the community projects, the public has been eyeing the government on the implementation of the development projects they are implementing. Part of the analysis in the organization is by analyzing how the communication in an organization works. The two are related as discussed as follows:

As mentioned, delivery of development project can be achieved should proper communication will be used. In attaining such, an organization implementing the development project should consider the system to be used. An organization is where a system is being implemented. Its structure varied depending on the goals of the company, the image it portrays, and the quality it aims to achieve. Being a member of an organization, one has to know how the organization works. This aim in knowing the technical know how within the organization leads to the concept of 'Organization Theory'. Later it becomes a 'social science discipline' which refers to "a body of thinking and writing that describes, explains and influences what goes on in organization". This leads to making this discipline as basis for exploring 'management and leadership theory' that enables the scholars to understand how an 'organization theory' works in the application of a certain system. Further, organizational theory (OT), according to Barzilai (2016), is the "study of organizations for the benefit of identifying common themes for the purpose of solving problems, maximizing efficiency and productivity, and meeting the needs of stakeholders". Thus, development communication interweaves with policy science and organizational theory for one reason: Development projects require an organization as deciding body in crafting policy leading to the attainment of the project and as implementor of the projects.

To affirm the interface, I reviewed the notions of development communication and policy sciences. Development education, a related and a younger discipline is shortly discussed. I also highlight the similarities of these fields. Quebral (2012) redefines development communication as "the science of human communication linked to the transition of communities from poverty in all its forms to a dynamic overall growth that fosters equity and the unfolding of individual potential" (p. 9). Meanwhile, Guru (2016) explains that development communication "(1) provides a conceptual and practical framework in accelerating development in all spheres of life; (2) includes the integration of planned, organized, and specific communication package into planning, programming, and implementation; (3)facilitates the flow of development education among various stakeholders; and (4) empowers marginalized individuals, groups, and organizations" (p. 101). I thought that development education is just a function or a subset of development communication just like information, motivation, persuasion, among others. In fact, it is discipline in its own right that started in the 1990s. Bourn (2015) describes it as "an education approach that (1) responds to issues of development, human rights, justice, and world citizenship; (2) presents an international development and human rights perspective within education in various parts of the world; (3) promotes voices and viewpoints of those who are excluded from an equal share in the benefits of international human development; (4) connects and compares development issues and challenges all over the world; (5) provides opportunities for people to reflect on their international roles and responsibilities with regard to issues of equality and justice in human development; and (6) narrates a new story of human development" (p. 47). On the other hand, policy sciences or policy studies basically refer to the policy cycle, which involves "policy making, policy implementation, policy evaluation, and policy feedback" (Flynn and Asquer, 2017, p. 40). Originally, it is a function of governance and, therefore the domain of government officials. However, with democracy as a form of government in many nations, it has also become the domain of the governed, hence, the term public policy. Most available literature on policy studies quote the definition developed by Hence Thomas Dye as "whatever governments choose to do or not to do." However, Chakrabarty and Chand (2016) argue that "[t]here cannot be a universal definition of policy although one can endure a near universal definition by highlighting its technical character" (p. 3). With these, they characterize Dye's definition as "functional in character" and contend that "governments are not at all free to choose because their choice is context dependent and governed by the ideology they adhere to" (p. 4). They raise the limitations Dye's definition: (1) does not reflect or represent the ideological goals of the government; (2) does not reflect the critical role of institutions; and (3) does not provide enough inputs to conceptualize public policy as an executive device and as a marker of ideology. After presenting the etymology of "public" and "policy", they propose a layman's definition through an acronym: POLICY. PO stands for periodically organized, which suggests that policies are "constantly reinvented and transformed in accordance with changing social, economic, and political realities". To add, LI means legally induced, which suggests it cannot dispense "constitutions and other legal instruments in shaping policy." Lastly, CY means calculated yields, which implies that policies must be beneficial and profitable (p. 6). With this, they propose a definition, that is, "[p]olicy being a functional design seeking to fulfill certain objectives on the basis of specific calculations of the pros and the cons, and this is naturally context dependent" (p. 7). Hence, it has a dynamic character: (1) it considers the changing environment, and (2) it prioritizes public good. They also enumerate the features of a policy: (1) intentional or deliberately designed to address societal issues; (2) a course of action with specific goals and objectives; (3) devised in response to a perceived need or demand or problem; (4)creates an environment in which various actors converge to develop policy designs; (5) an authoritative decision by the government (Chakbarty and Chand, 2016, p. 8). Three broad and dynamic disciplines are presented. It is then instructive to highlight their commonalities or similarities to affirm their interface: (1) systematic (planned, organized, designed, or an approach); (2) change oriented, preferably for the better if not the best (public good); (3) holistic and multidimensional; (4) pro people or advocates of equity or social justice, and (5) largely participatory. Development education, being the youngest field or discipline, has two distinct emphases: sustainable development and global citizenship (Bourn, 2015). A number of modifiers have come before the term development over time, but the most recent is sustainable, hence, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Guru (2016) defines it as "a vision of the future that provides necessary blueprint through which the developmental activities of individuals and institutions can be streamlined on the basis of ethical, humanitarian, and professional considerations" (p. 85). It has three dimensions: social, economic, and environmental (World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002 in Guru, 2016). In fact, it is imperative for both development practitioners and policy makers to understand these dimensions.

In the context of globalization, the need for communication is increasing. Many countries has invested in developing their technology which in turns speed up the exchange of information across different countries. This has led to a more complex work context in different institutions especially in business, education, and non profit organizations. Employees not only has to deal with a lot of things that are not present in a very homogenous environment like observing other religious holidays, communicating in different languages, and also understanding different preferences on certain things. In a multi cultural environment, organizational culture becomes more complex. There were countless of research that show how poor communication can lead to poor organizational performance. It is important for every organisation to develop an effective means to communicate internally and externally in the organization and find ways to develop a health knowledge sharing culture. Understanding the impact of globalisation is crucial for any organisation to be competitive in the global market. In this context, effective communication is expected to create a healthy organizational culture by providing necessary information that will bridge many gaps in the organization. Flor (2007) noted that "communication and culture are inextricably linked" (p. 112). Seemingly, communication constitutes culture and vice versa in any organizational engagement internally and externally. From time immemorial, effective internal organizational communication which reduces uncertainties and increases productivity in the workplace has been the common goal of many organizations worldwide. Consequently, effective communication processes could mean effective communication policies are in place explicitly or have been legitimized in practice. Making this complicated is perceived in how decision makers, policy experts and organizational members interact in furthering organizational communication processes. Flor (2007) describes potential complexities at work that could burden more than could help the organization's communication culture. The really difficult part of communication work (and perhaps the most time consuming) is pleasing everybody from your superior, to the subject matter specialist and, finally, to the user whose opinions (and tastes) may altogether vary from those of the decision maker. This potentially is the most time consuming particularly since, right or wrong, everyone believes that he is a communication expert (p.167 168).

The roots of participatory approaches in development communication according to Yoon (1996) can be found in the early years of the 1970s when many people in the development community began to question the top down approach of development dominant in the 1950s and 60s which targeted the economic growth of countries as its main goal. Development according to Yoon (1996) was "thought to be triggered by the wide scale diffusion and adoption of modern technologies". Such modernization Yoon (1996) further expounds, was planned in the national capitals under the guidance and direction of experts brought in from developed countries. Often, the people in the villages who are the "objects" of these plans were the last to know when "strangers from the city turned up, frequently unannounced, to survey land or look at project sites". However, the demarcation of the First, Second and Third Worlds by the late 1960s to early 1980s has broken down and the cross over centre periphery can be found in every region, a need for a new concept of development which emphasizes cultural identity and multidimensionality is raised (Servaes and Malikhao, 2005). Servaes and Malikhao (2005) posit that the'global' world, in general as well as in its distinct regional and national entities, is confronted with multifaceted crises. Apart from the obvious economic and financial crisis, they elaborate that one could also refer to social, ideological, moral, political, ethnic, ecological and security crises thus the previously held dependency perspective has become more difficult to support because of the growing interdependency of regions, nations and communities in the globalized world. A new viewpoint on development and social change has come to the forefront according to them which "the common starting point is the examination of the changes from 'bottom up', from the self development of the local community". At first, speech, traditional and folk media, and group activities were considered the most appropriate instruments for supporting participatory communication hence, the practitioners in the mass media responded by innovating their own approach towards participatory communication (Yoon, 1996) which brought the emergence of community radios. The historical philosophy of community radio is to use this medium as the voice of the voiceless, the mouthpiece of the oppressed people and generally as a tool for development. Yoon (1996) articulates that in community radios, the people "produced and voiced the programs which were focused on local issues which were the most current and important making way for participatory communication to be practiced at both the community or village level and at the broader regional or sub regional level". Most of the successes of community broadcasting are to be found in the non formal education sector (Beltran,1993 in Yoon, 1996). Literacy programs have been effectively conducted via community radio and television stations. Other subjects covered by these stations include gender issues, farming, health, income generation, workers' safety and occupational health, land tenure, and religious matters (Yoon, 1996). Mhagama (2015) posits that participatory development projects such as community radio employ a participatory approach to decision making processes and enable marginalized people to "define their own development path through the identification and implementation of projects that are initiated by them". He stresses that "participatory communication gives the local community a right to freely share or exchange information and to reach a consensus on what they want to do or to be done and how to do it". Tamminga (1997) in Mhagama (2015) addresses that in community radio the dichotomy between the rich and the marginalized sectors like women, indigenous peoples and the poor is broken by "allowing listeners an opportunity to shape the medium to meet their own specific needs and breakdown the monopolies of knowledge and power that marginalize them politically, economically and socially". In one project of UNESCO in partnership with the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), and the Philippine government a participatory communication project using community radio dubbed as "Tambuli" (Tambuli is a Filipino term referring to a traditional way of calling villagers to an important meeting)(Jayaweera and Tabing, 1997) was launched in 1991. According to Howley (2005) the project was able to make the community residents come to appreciate radio's potential as a forum to discuss issues of mutual concern allowing the local populations to give immediate and sustained feedback to local, regional and even national political leaders and authorities which afforded them greater opportunity to chart their own destiny. Howley (2010) as cited in Mhagama (2015) stressed that "community radio highlights people's ability to alter and rearrange existing media structures to better suit their needs". This is made possible Servaes (1996) in Mhagama (2015) concludes because community radio allows non professionals to participate in media production, management, and planning of the communication systems.

Flor (n. d., as cited in Academia, 2015) states that policy sciences and development communication have seemingly identical underlying function in society: to solve societal issues and make social change possible for the benefit of the greater majority. Development communication and policy sciences share key characteristics. First, both policy sciences and development communication are purposive. They serve specific and systematic functions to achieve a common goal which is to solve issues and problems in society in order to achieve change. Second, both policy sciences and development communication believe that, at times, power and corrupt practices in the government have the potential to undermine reasoned logic. This is evident in the commercialisation of mass media that advances profit over social responsibility. Thus, development communication and policy sciences have the role to combat such corrupt practices. The third characteristic that policy sciences and development communication share is to heed action for policies to take effect. Policies that remain in print/word without action is a futile enterprise. A policy to be effective needs to be implemented, monitored, assessed and sustained. For development communication and policy sciences to make great impact to the world, participation or engagement of stakeholders is necessary. Below is an analysis of a few studies that deal with how development communication relates with policy sciences, and how they fuse in order to effect change in the larger society. In a discussion on the policy sciences, Allen (1978, as cited in Flor, n. d.) states:Since communication permeates every facet of a person's behaviour, the study of communication is no less than one way to study policy making. Communication is a useful concept precisely because it is one more handle whereby we can effectively study policy making. Communication is one of those few variables through which any policy decision is dependent (p.69). Another example where development communication takes an important role is in the global health space. International organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, ASEAN, and the United Nations have all used the principles of development communication to achieve global impacts. Specifically, on 8 August 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was then composed of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand was established with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration). In the succeeding years, other Southeast Asian countries have joined, including Brunei (1984), Viet Nam (1995), Lao PDR (1997), Myanmar (1997), and Cambodia (1999) (ASEAN 2012a: 1). It was established to accelerate the economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region; promote regional peace and stability; promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest; provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities; and collaborate more effectively for the greater utilization of their agriculture and industries; among others (ASEAN 2012a: 1). Criticisms on the ASEAN have, however, noted various failures in the regionalism efforts in Southeast Asia. Previous studies have defined regionalism as "more than an institutional process of multilateral policy coordination and the negotiation of competing stakeholder interests [It is a] collective and intersubjective identities" (Elliott 2003: 29–52). Recent regionalism efforts worldwide also worked either institutionally or through cooperation among governments (Anonymous2005: 2291–2313). Although some argues that the ASEAN's regionalism efforts were seen as more of cooperation among the governments rather than an institutional one, development communication can play a key role in bridging these countries and towards commitment to the Declaration.

The youths hold a pivotal role in making a difference in society. Being digital natives, they communicate efficiently, develop networks pervasively, and create, influence and change social norms and practices. In short, being communication natives who can create a collective voice, they have the power to influence policies and change perspectives deeply rooted in society. For instance, during disasters, the youths are viewed as passive victims with no role in communicating risks or preventing and responding to disasters. Since disaster management seems to be predominated by top down strategies, not bottom up, the youths are seen as weaklings who are at the receiving end of calamity relief operations. However, Mitchell, Haynes, Hall, Wei and Oven (2008) seem to have refuted this perception based on the findings of their case studies in El Salvador and New Orleans. Mitchell et al. (2008) concluded that children and youths can be potential informants within informal and formal risk communication networks. Their case studies have shown that:children and youth can become effective conduits, vehicles and bridges as they are embedded within the household and community and can act as trusted two way "translators" and communicators. Overall, children and youth were found to be effective communicators of risk when language barriers exist increasing the agency of young people, an outside agent has helped support the organization of youth groups, the community has strong social cohesion, and there is a level of distrust in political sources (such as police impunity) (p. 269). In the Philippines, a study by Fernandez and Shaw (2013) found that even until today, "young people are not given an active role in (or worse, are excluded from) the action toward disaster risk reduction" (p. 135). Fernandez and Shaw's (2013) review of national policies of the Philippines related to youth council participation in disaster risk reduction (DRR) shows discrepancies between ideal scenarios and actual youth participation in DRR in practice. So much more needs to be done in engaging young people in helping build disaster resilient communities. However, although these discrepancies exist, there are many success stories of Filipino youths involved in development programs with the aim to prepare communities for disasters. The National Youth Commission (NYC, 2013) believed that children and youth are not just a vulnerable group, but can play vital roles in their communities to prepare for future disasters. For instance, the Tanay Mountaineers Youth Arm, a Ten Accomplished Youth Organization (TAYO) 2013 winner, has been responding to victims of disasters not only in Tanay, Rizal but even in Quezon Province since Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) hit their town in 2009 (Rappler. com, 2014). The local government of Tanay has tapped the Tanay Mountaineers as the official disaster response team of the municipality. Another TAYO 2013 winner, the Hayag Youth Organization, carried out the "Langoy para sa Kaluwasan," a Swim Camp Disaster Preparedness and Open Water Safety Training for children and youth from impoverished communities in Ormoc City, Leyte. This is in response to the fact that many youths in Ormoc still do not know how to swim apart from the fact that water safety skills are not taught to them in school (Rappler. com, 2014). Despite scepticism, there still exists a growing optimism that policy scientists and communication policy developers can help review and reaffirm existing youth policies in the Philippines in engaging youth groups themselves for DRR projects, among others. Fernandez and Shaw (2013) posited that open and engaging communication is necessary so that the youths become more involved in disaster management and risk reduction efforts in their communities.

Globalisation has been shaping this world into a small village. With this phenomenon comes urbanisation or massive urban planning that governments and private industries are advancing. With policies being created and governance being mandated, remote heartlands of countries are now slowly being transformed into urbanised places and spaces which in turn produce setbacks such as pollution, health issues and other social problems. However, one trend that is becoming popular in some countries is urban forestry which somehow demands for sound scientific information and public participation. According to Janse and Konijnendijk (2007), urban society's manifold perceptions, preferences and demands for urban forest goods and services indicate the necessity for socially inclusive policy planning processes. They said that successful policies can only be formulated by establishing close links with, for example, urban planning and municipal policies. Inherently, this means that close ties between research and policy are required. They discussed the outcomes of the NeighbourWoods research and development project in which a wide range of tools for public participation were tested in six urban woodland case studies across Europe. Findings confirmed that a set of tools comprising a step wise process from informing the public in an attractive way, collecting information on public opinion, towards fully participatory approaches such as direct involvement in decision making is most likely to ensure socially inclusive planning. Communication with policy makers requires a high degree of openness, clearly explaining every phase of the process, being open about each other's expectations, and developing relationships based on mutual trust (Janse & Konijnendijk, 2007). Despite power issues that lurk in most organisations and governments, Development Communication and policy sciences seem to advance specific and systematic functions to achieve a common goal for the benefit of the majority. This is shown in an increasingly global India, whereby an agricultural community in Pune, Maharashtra was faced with losing farmland to urbanisation and devised an unusual solution (Sami, 2013). Pooling their land together, the farmers in this community leveraged their social and political networks to take advantage of the changing economic climate in Pune and built a mixed use township on their 400 acres of farmland (Sami, 2013). They formed alliances with other stakeholders, both internally within the agricultural community and externally at the city and state levels. Sami (2013) concluded that "ad hoc coalitions in the power and politics of urban processes in an Indian city have emerged as a result of a political will and leadership vacuum in Indian cities in the face of the changing focus and priorities of national and regional governments as well as a growing gap in urban service provision" (p. 151).

If highly urbanised and wealthy cities or countries are advancing urban agriculture, it cannot be denied that many of the Third World countries are also at par when it comes to improving agricultural processes and policies and in the informatisation of agriculture. In Malawi, one of the poorest regions in Africa, Agunga (2012) emphasised that the success rate of poverty reduction programming could be greater if C4D education was provided for development decision makers and field staff, especially agricultural extension workers. Agunga (2012) further stated that agricultural extension education can impact development by focusing on how C4D can strengthen agricultural extension performance. He implied that educating policymakers about C4D will increase donor investments in pilot C4D projects, a strengthening of agricultural extension systems, and success of poverty reduction programs (Agunga, 2012). In the Philippines, a book by Flor (2007) entitled Development Communication Praxis discussed a rice scandal such that in the last quarter of 1990, the Philippines groaned as the price of rice and other commodities went up. Flor (2007) said: Rice farmers who were expected to gain from the situation were likewise disadvantaged. They were not able to sell their produce at reasonable prices. On one hand, their bumper crop entailed expensive inputs – certified high yielding varieties, irrigation, pesticides and fertilizer. On the other, middle men bought their harvest at cutthroat prices leaving them penniless and in debt the nature of the rice industry is such that information, particularly market information, means money and power. For all practical purposes, the Philippine rice industry is controlled by a group of obscure Filipino Chinese businessmen called the Binondo Rice Cartel Employing a nationwide marketing network composed mainly of fellow Filipino Chinese traders, the cartel has held a viselike grip over rice trading since the post World War II years that enable them to virtually dictate the buying price of dried paddy all over the country (pp. 114–115). What was done when this happened? Did development communication come into the picture? Was change sought? There were a few discussions on alternatives such as proper use of funds since it was observed that international donations for the agricultural farmers were spent more on the informatisation of agriculture (increasing need for computers, logistical aids, etc.) instead of investing into more practical and realistic methods to empower the farmers and improve their farming methods. Attention was also given to the rise of white collar jobs which was cutting down the numbers of agricultural farmers tilling the land (Flor, 2007). The youths became more attracted to the life in the city and to seek for office or desk jobs than remain in the province and till the farm. With this, Flor (2007) suggested policy rationalisation: Rationalisation need not mean a reduction of monies awarded to the information sector. It primarily means the rearrangement of priorities and the increase of allotment to actual farming activities in the case of agriculture or to direct social services in the case of rural development. (p. 123). However, with the seemingly hegemonic influence of the internet and the impact of globalisation, the field of agriculture needs to adapt to radical changes in society for it to become sustainable. As policy sciences and development communication suggest, the goal of communication and policies is to empower individuals or groups, and this empowerment necessitates crucial adaptation to an ever changing world. This brought agriculture into another layer: e agriculture. What is e agriculture? The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO, 2013) defined this as: <block quote>An emerging field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes. More specifically, e Agriculture involves the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in the rural domain, with a primary focus on agriculture (p. 1). In a post on e Agriculture webpage, Walter (2009), indicates that the Philippines has launched a Knowledge Working Towards Enhancing Agricultural Communities Program or K Agrinet project with the aim to promoting the use of ICT to attain agricultural sustainability and competitiveness for the country's farmers. The project is a collaborative effort amongst the country's diverse agencies to utilize information technology (IT) as a tool to fast track the dissemination of agriculture and natural resources information and technologies to farmers, upland dwellers, and rural entrepreneurs in the Philippines. The institutional key players in the agricultural and natural resource sectors are: (1) the e Learning led by the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture of the Department of Agriculture Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA PhilRice) which focuses on e extension and distance learning for agriculture extension workers; (2) the e Consortia led by the Department of Science and Technology Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST PCARRD) which intensifies technology and knowledge generation and exchange amongst existing partner R&D Institutions through improved ICT tools and applications; (3) the e Farm also led by DOST PCARRD that promotes e commerce by initiating e based farm to market opportunities through the FITS centers and their respective farmer scientists; and lastly, (4) the e Agrikultura led by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) tasked at mobilising and generating the participation of agrarian reform communities into the program (Walter, 2009, p. 1). Indeed, the goal of C4D and e agriculture is clear: to improve the lives of people especially the poor and the marginalised. This entails educating and empowering them for the impact of change to be sustainable.

Reports and studies show that women are mostly victims of many kinds of abuse. For instance, Kaunda (1990) described that a smallholder development strategy in Malawi, Africa puts emphasis on commercialization of agriculture, combined with decision making processes which are centralized in the bureaucracy, serving only to reproduce and perpetuate historical forms of social differentiation which are the basis of the women's subordination and/or subjugation. However, it can be seen in the past few decades that women have been successful in championing a cause and in letting their voices be heard in the society. Women from all walks of life have been engaging themselves into some development projects. For Instance, in the Philippines, the World Food Programme (WFP, 2012) launched a project in the Philippine island of Mindanao to helping women kick start agriculture in the region by providing them with the training they need to become successful farmers. This shows that women can be empowered and independent – two qualities that development communication and policy sciences are championing. HumanaPeopletoPeople (2012) is also promoting gender equality in India, whereby, to release the empowerment of women, the women in their communities have formed coalitions such as women self help groups focusing on community projects. The women are empowered to bargain, to have economic influence, to earn money for improvement of health and education of the family and to gain a stronger social standing. Either in the First World or in the Third World nations, a huge number of women are making a difference in a lot of fields with the goal to contribute to character and nation building. In the field of developing women's capacities to run and manage their small medium enterprises (SMEs), Gail Romero, the founder and CEO for Collective Changes, has been providing effective technology platforms to business mentors for women's SMEs in developing nations. Gail continues to drive support for empowering women in business and global recognition of the economic engine that women can provide to their nations. Gail is also Senior Advisor for MacKenzie Romero Consulting, Executive Producer for Rainmakers TV and carried the title of Ambassador for Global Health for the American Cancer Society until August 2011. Gail has spent the last two decades creating and directing the development and integration of innovative economic ideas and campaigns and strategic alliances with policy makers to advance women in leadership throughout the world She has held numerous corporate board positions for start up companies and guided new social venture partnerships. She has served as a visiting professor and international speaker and presenter on social justice, women's issues and education. Gail is a recent TED Prize nominee for her work to leverage technology to grow women's business skills ("Advancing Women in Leadership", 2014). Development communication and policy sciences have gone a long way to advancing the rights and freedom of people – children and youths, women, farmers, labourers, etc., with the goal that they become more informed and empowered to make decisions for themselves and their communities, to realise their full potential and to become a catalyst for change as Flor (2007) postulated.