Empowering Local Creatives for Impactful Communication

Julie Buur Traerup | Dalberg Media

In the realm of social impact and awareness creation, effective communication strategies are crucial for reaching and engaging diverse communities. Recognizing the power of local perspectives and creativity in storytelling, Dalberg Media has pioneered an initiative known as the Storytelling Lab. This innovative concept is designed to harness the talent and insights of local creatives to develop compelling communications products tailored to address the needs of at-risk communities.

The Birth of the Storytelling Lab

The Storytelling Lab emerged from a vision to bridge the gap between global development initiatives and local contexts by elevating the voices and experiences of those within the communities targeted for impact. Dalberg Media conceptualized this initiative as a means to amplify authentic narratives, create effective communications products, and foster meaningful connections. First piloted by Dalberg Media during the UNLEASH Innovation Lab in 2019 with a global group of creatives who gathered in Shenzhen China to work on ideas to elevate the UN SDGs, the Storytelling Lab has since been redesigned with the purpose of providing a platform for local creatives for more specific challenges. Since the pilot in 2019, the lab has been conducted to address the lack of diabetes awareness in India for the World Diabetes Foundation and schistosomiasis prevention and treatment for Merck KGaA in Kenya, Rwanda and most recently Ethiopia.

An overview of how the lab works

Providing a Platform for Local creatives

Central to the Storytelling Lab’s ethos is the belief in the inherent storytelling prowess of individuals embedded within their communities. Too often, content is created very far away from the affected communities and by people who only have statistics and desk research to support the development. When based on assumptions and disconnected from local realities, communications often become very detached from the audiences it intends to reach.

A common pitfall is the wrongful assumption that all people are on social media or that everyone has access to a smart phone. In certain African countries, internet penetration is as low as 10-20%. Relying on communications professionals that are distant from the challenge either geographically or culturally to come up with ideas is often not the most effective way to ensure inclusive and effective communication. It should go without saying, but social media campaigns will not reach those offline—and messages in English will not necessarily be understood by people speaking Amharic.

Facilitation during the Bilharzia Storytelling Lab in Ethiopia 2024

Dalberg Media has built a concept which provides a platform and opportunities for creatives to contribute directly to the development of communications campaigns and products through a program and curriculum which mixes human-centered design thinking with impact communication strategies. This collaborative approach ensures that initiatives are not only culturally relevant but also resonate deeply with the intended audience. While Dalberg Media are the facilitators and communications experts, the local creatives are experts in context.

Applying the Storytelling Methodology: A Catalyst for Impact

Diabetes

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are an estimated 77 million people above the age of 18 years with type 2 diabetes in India and nearly 25 million are prediabetics who are at a higher risk of developing diabetes in the near future. Furthermore, more than 50% of people are unaware of their diabetic status which leads to health complications if not detected and treated early. This reflects the need for improved treatment along with an increased awareness of the disease and preventive measures among the population in India.

In 2020, the Diabetes Storytelling Lab gathered 40 participants, consisting of community leaders and creative storytellers from India to develop innovative communication products that can support diabetes awareness in India. The participants were placed in 8 teams based on a number of personality and experience factors to bring forward the strengths in each team member.

The program not only focused on developing concepts, but also ensured that actual products were designed to reach the target groups in India. Eight solutions were developed, all of which were pitched at the final event in front of skilled judges. The two most promising and feasible solutions, with significant potential for impact, were awarded 25,000 USD for implementation.

The awareness campaign and health camps in India

The solution that won first place was an awareness campaign designed to educate truck drivers on preventive measures for type 2 diabetes through memorable and impactful stories. The team used animation videos to explore causes, symptoms, and treatment of diabetes. They also created social media content, set up social media channels, and conducted 3 health camps for truck drivers, where hundreds of people were screened for diabetes. The team was able to sensitize more than 500 truck drivers, engage with seven diabetes organizations and experts, and reach more than 100,000 people through social media.

The solution that took second place was an idea for a diabetes card game called “Sugarbaddies” to share information and actions for managing diabetes and reducing the risk of getting the diseases. The game was recently released and will be distributed across doctor’s offices and other relevant spaces for awareness building.

Bilharzia/Schistosomiasis

Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is an acute and chronic disease caused by parasitic worms. People are infected during routine agricultural, domestic, occupational, and recreational activities which expose them to infested water. Schistosomiasis, which is considered a neglected tropical disease (NTD), is prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas, especially in communities without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

It is estimated according to the WHO that at least 251.4 million people required preventive treatment for schistosomiasis in 2021. The three main risk groups as defined by the WHO are domestic workers, particularly women doing household work in infested waters, agricultural workers, and school-aged children. These are the three risk groups that the Bilharzia Storytelling Lab addresses in developing storytelling projects to ignite behavioral change.

KENYA

The Bilharzia Storytelling Lab in Kenya invited storytellers, health experts, and community leaders to a 3-week virtual innovation program aimed at developing targeted and locally sensitive communication, education, and information efforts directed towards vulnerable communities.

The aim of the program was to substantially increase information about schistosomiasis and how to treat, prevent, and ultimately eliminate it. The storytellers, ranging from film producers to poets, went through an intensive curriculum on storytelling and schistosomiasis to produce new ways of addressing schistosomiasis. Through the three weeks, the participants worked with local experts from the creative sector, health organizations and non-profits to ensure solutions rooted in reality.

Several hundred children were engaged by the winning solution which was an interactive storytelling game for school-aged children to learn about preventative measures for schistosomiasis.

The winning solution in Kenya being presented to school students

RWANDA

Like the Bilharzia Storytelling Lab in Kenya, the Lab in Kigali, Rwanda brought together community leaders and innovative storytellers from Rwanda to develop communication products to support bilharzia awareness.

The participants were placed in 4 teams and through the five days of the program, they worked with experts from the creative sector, health organizations and non-profits to develop creative solutions rooted in reality. Their proposed solutions were then pitched to a panel of judges with the winning team receiving a total of 10,000 EUR for implementation.

The winning solution was a homework notebook with custom cartoon illustrations of bilharzia precautions that were given to school children in the Bugesera community in Rwanda. The awareness campaign and notebooks have reached several thousand children, and the team is working to scale up the solution with Merck and partners.

ETHIOPIA

Most recently, the third edition of the Lab was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with representation from the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, the END Fund and Nala Foundation. The participating storytellers were placed in 7 teams and the Lab took place over five days.

As with the previous editions, each team pitched their proposed solutions to a panel of skilled judges with the winning team receiving 10,000 EUR for implementation. For this Lab, the winning solution focused on theatre for development—a type of community-based practice that uses performance as a participatory tool for social change—in sugar cane factories that employ 20,000 people, who are at great risk of contracting schistosomiasis and currently receive no training or information on preventive measures. The solution was recently piloted at the Metehara sugar factory in Ethiopia.

The Lab has given me a new way to brainstorm, follow my creativity, address stories to my target group, target audience and think about Bilharzia [schistosomiasis] and how to tackle it. This has been the best experience this year. – Habtamu Mekonnen, winner of Bilharzia Storytelling Lab 2024.

Team Buna – winner of the Bilharzia Storytelling Lab 2024

Driving Awareness and Engagement

The primary objective of the Storytelling Lab is to drive awareness and inspire positive action within at-risk communities. Through workshops, masterclasses and creative collaborations, local talent is encouraged to explore innovative ways of conveying critical messages on issues such as public health, education, environmental sustainability, and social justice.

By leveraging diverse storytelling techniques, from short films and podcasts to digital art and interactive campaigns, the Lab aims to captivate audiences and catalyze change. A great part of the lab is spent on truly understanding the audiences that are receiving the message—from their offline and online habits to their family structures, beliefs, and ways of moving in the world. Without this understanding, you run the risk of not just producing ineffective communications, but in the worst case, actually harming the communities you wish to help. Numerous case studies across both impact-driven communications and broader development initiatives reveal a consistent trend: many solutions that appear effective in theory fail upon actual implementation. This is usually because of the lack of integration with and understanding of the intended beneficiary and their surrounding environment.

The Storytelling Lab is Dalberg Media’s tool to ensure that communications products are developed with a strong knowledge of who they are designed for, while also offering capacity-building and funding opportunities to locals.

Collaborative Partnerships

Key to the success of the Storytelling Lab is its collaborative approach. Dalberg Media engages with local governments, organizations, NGOs, and development agencies to identify priority issues and leverage existing community networks. By forging partnerships with local stakeholders, the Lab ensures that its communications initiatives are embedded within broader grassroots movements for change. For our work with Merck, it was imperative that the solutions had local support from the Ministries of Health and therefore the Ministry played a role in selecting the top ideas in both Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia to ensure continuous support and alignment with government strategies and priorities.

In summary, the Storytelling Lab represents a bold step towards reimagining communications for social impact. By embracing local creativity and amplifying diverse voices, Dalberg Media is not only providing a platform for creative and compelling awareness products, but also reshaping the landscape of development communications, one story at a time.

To know more about the Storytelling Lab and Dalberg Media’s work, contact:

Dalberg Media's Storytelling Lab: Empowering Local Creatives for Impactful Communication