Communicate and Resonate to Transgress: Case studies from Iraq, Rwanda and Myanmar - Part 2

Zoe Matthews

How do I change people’s behaviours to make my work easier in effecting social change? Evidence from studies of socio-ecological models and human-centred design show that individualized face-to-face (and digital) interactions, especially with someone a person knows, likes, and/or respects is a powerful tool for change. When you have strong relationships and the things you have to say resonate with other people, this is the first step towards trangression – we can start to talk about the issues that people don’t want to talk about, and in so doing, start to change the mindsets that cause social injustices to happen. In this workshop, we will first identify the problematic mindsets that you work with (or against) in your world. We will then examine examples of how socio-ecological and human-centred design models, tools and activities have been used to transform mindsets in Iraq, Rwanda and Myanmar. The final step will be to practice example tools and activities and reflect on how they can be applied to your own professional practice.

Human-centred design is all about using deep empathy to really understand the people we work with and design solutions that support the development of mindsets needed to connect self and community so that the choices we make not only lead to our own well-being but also the well-being of others. The Iraq example is inspired by our colleagues' presentation from Brazil, that society is imposing the idea that we need to “live a little like a king, or live long like a nobody”. This example highlights the strategies used on an employability and entrepreneurship programme where the focus is on the aftermath of male participants talking about their admiration for Andrew Tate. In the Rwanda example, I will talk about the tools and strategies used to address the mindsets that lead to period poverty. In the Myanmar example, I will talk about addressing the xenophobic mindsets that divide IDP and host communities where tensions are borne out of scarcity. All three examples showcase how effective use of communication is crucial for instigating behaviour change.