Background
Over the last decade, communication thinking and practice have increasingly focused on participatory communication, where communities are empowered to generate and consume the informational content they they require, in the form that they feel best suits their socio-economic and socio-cultural ethos. Since its inception, Ideosync has been at the forefront of the participatory communication movement, working with communities to develop audiovisual and print communication materials that are user-driven and user-generated - a process that has been supported by the capacity building trainings and initiatives that Ideosync has undertaken to train communities and grassrots NGOs in communication concepts and technologies. Ideosync believes in empowering communities to meet their own communication needs, an approach that has informed the development of all the communication tools that Ideosync has developed, and which continues to be a guiding principle of its engagement with South Asian migrant communities, young people's groups, and the community radio (CR) movement. Ideosync is a founder member of the Community Radio Forum, the forum of community radio broadcasters in India; and is providing training and community radio related consultancy and design support to NGOs interested in setting up CR stations.

A. Community Radio in Uttarakhand, India

Over the last 4 years, Ideosync has been working with youth community radio groups in the mountainous Indian state of Uttarakhand, training them in radio production technology, techniques and content design, besides assisting some of the groups in setting up Community Media Centers (CMCs). There are currently two CMCs active in Uttarakhand: One in Chamba (Distt. Rudraprayag), run by Hevalvaani Samudayik Radio; and the other in Bhanaj (Distt. Rudraprayag), run by Mandaakini Ki Awaaz Samudayik Radio. Ideosync designed and set up both CMCs, besides training the volunteers in recording, editing and scripting/programme design. Both CMCs are fully active radio production centers equipped with low cost field studio setups that include computerized audio editing systems and digital field recording equipment.

Ideosync's engagement with the community radio groups in Uttarakhand is an ongoing process:
The trainings conducted by Ideosync with the groups to build a pool of trained community media producers over the last several years has slowly matured into a partnership where the radio groups have been actively producing several programmes on a regular basis. The programmes are narrowcast - played back by community volunteers armed with cassette players - at local meeting points; and are also broadcast on a dedicated free to air radio-for-development channel (BCID 1307 ASIADEV) on the Worldspace radio network, available through Ideosync's partnership with Equal Access, a not for profit communication for development organization based in San Francisco, USA. With upwards of 40 DTH satellite receivers distributed to communities surrounding the CMCs, the listener group model evolved as part of this partnership has resulted in new strides in community engagement and participation. The groups also manned the technology demonstration stall set up by UNESCO at the recently held Broadcast Equipment exposition BES-2007 in New Delhi.

Ideosync is currently assisting both Hevalvaani and Mandaakini Ki Awaaz CR groups to apply for and set up full fledged community radio stations servicing their local communities. As part of this assistance, Ideosync is collaborating with both groups to develop long running radio series on issues ranging from safe migration to HIV, health, sanitation, local traditions, environment and livelihoods as part of project work supported by a number of donor agencies.  

B. Cross border Safe migration initiative for Nepali migrants in India
Ideosync is currently working on a cross border safe migration initiative as part of its India partnership with Equal Access. The FHI and USAID supported project addresses Nepali migrants in New Delhi and Mumbai, as well as Nepalis in Nepal through an innovative 52 episode radio programme called Desh Pardesh ("At Home and Abroad"). The Desh Pardesh programme features a serial radio drama that depicts the events in the life of Dabal Bahadur, a young Nepali migrant; and also includes documentary segments produced in Delhi, Mumbai and Nepal, where migrants talk about safe migrationand HIV. The programme also features a messages section, where listeners can send greetings and information to relatives and loved ones in all three areas. The project is implemented in the field in collaboration with FHI's field partners in Western Nepal, New Delhi and Mumbai. Ideosync leads the India segment of the project, providing project management, coordination, training for the peer educators who run the listener clubs, as well as producing and packaging the India segments of the documentary.

C. Our Voices, Our Radio: Youth Radio Training initiative (Delhi & Chennai)
In 2006, Ideosync worked with NGOs in Delhi and Chennai to train street children and young people from economically weaker sections to produce radio programmes on issues important to them. The project, supported by the Sari-Q Equity programme, was executed simultaneously in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Afghanistan; and the programmes produced by the young people - as well as segments of each programme translated into the other project languages - were broadcast over the Worldspace Radio network to create a unique sharing of young people's issues across the Indian subcontinent. The Indian programmes were produced in Hindi (Delhi) and Tamil (Chennai); and addressed young people's rights and the need for better education systems respectively. The project was executed as part of Ideosync's partnership with Equal Access in India.

D. Technical training for youth in low cost video: Jandarshan project
In 2004-2005, Ideosync trained young people in Bhilai, Chattisgarh in production techniques, camerawork and the use of low cost video technology as part of the European Union supported Jandarshan project. The project - implemented by SHIFT and Marker Films (UK) in partnership with IWF (Germany) and Deshbandhu (India) - was designed to create access to low cost digital media among local youth, with the intention of creating a pool of trained manpower who could document local cultural, social and ethnographic details. Besides the actual training workshops that were conducted at the media center set up for the project, Ideosync trainers provided long distance support to the trainees with troubleshooting advice and inputs on their projects throughout the entire period. The Jandarshan trainees have since become a full fledged video unit attached to the Raipur-based Deshbandhu newspaper; and document issues and events in their region for the local and national media.