Preface

This publication emerged from a Building Communication Opportunities (BCO) Alliance learning event on information and communications technologies (ICTs) and climate change held in Johannesburg on 22 December 2008.

The BCO Alliance is a partnership of international development organisations working on information, communications and development. BCO partners believe that information and communications are of crucial importance to achieving sustainable and equitable development and that the use of technologies such as the internet, radio, and mobile devices present opportunities for people living in poverty to voice their concerns and shape their futures.

Learning events – which include members of the alliance and their local partners – are part of the BCO ‘methodology’. They bring together a mix of practitioners, people involved in development assistance, and people from different sectors, some based inside developing countries, and some in the developed world. They constitute a space for learning and debate.

BCO partners have been pioneers in integrating information and communication in development work, and among the first to consider how ICTs can both enhance existing development efforts, as well as present new opportunities and challenges. It is therefore not surprising that they have also been among the first to confront the issue of ICTs and climate change.

We hope that this publication serves as an introduction to others concerned with sustainable development. We are all users of technology, and therefore we can all be part of the problem; but, as you will read, we can also be part of the solution by actively using ICTs to help communities deal with the challenges posed by climate change. We need to also change the ways in which ICTs are produced, consumed and disposed of.

I would like to thank the people who made the BCO learning event on ICTs and climate change possible. From the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) they are SDC Deputy Country Director in South Africa, Richard Chenevard; Patrick Kalas, the Programme Manager in SDC’s Knowledge and Learning Processes Division who has, after a request voiced by BCO Partners, been the driving force behind the event and the publication; and Gerolf Weigel, outgoing head of SDC’s ICT for Development Division, whose experience and vision provided both depth and breadth to the deliberation within the alliance.

I also want to thank the following people: all the presenters; Alan Finlay, for his indispensable work in recording the event and helping compile this publication; Karel Novotny, the Association for Progressive Communication’s (APC) Knowledge Sharing Projects Co-ordinator for assisting Patrick to shape the agenda; and Eunice Mwesigwa, who was responsible for logistics. One of our presenters, Naimur Rahman from One World South Asia (OWSA), deserves a special note of thanks. Based in Delhi, and unable to travel to South Africa, he participated remotely. It seemed very apt that we were using technology in a way that reduced the carbon footprint of the event.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the ongoing support and participation of BCO partners who have been actively involved during the term of APC’s coordination of the partnership (2006 to 2008). They are the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID); the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos); the International Institute for Communications and Development (IICD); OWSA; One World Africa; Panos London; Panos South Asia; the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC); and SDC. It is their experience that has made BCO the important learning space it has been over the years.

BCO partner institutions, and the individuals who have represented them, have all contributed their time and ideas and helped to make BCO a small but active learning space. As with all networks, the level of activity in BCO fluctuates. Partners are all incredibly busy. However, whenever a learning opportunity presents itself, BCO partners can be relied on to share and listen with generosity and openness.

This publication serves as a record of this commitment to shared learning.

Anriette Esterhuysen
Executive Director
APC-host institution of BCO coordination from 2006 to 2008

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