The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Global Citizens

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In association with UNICEF in Scotland, the TAG Theatre Company has developed a programme of workshops for children ages 8 to 11 on issues surrounding global citizenship. Launched in August 2004, the Global Citizens project is an effort to use drama as a tool to explore complex political issues with students. The purpose of the initiative is to give students the interpersonal tools to work together to explore human rights and responsibilities, ethical enterprise, and society on a global scale - hopefully in the process motivating Scotland's children to grow into engaged and aware global citizens.
Communication Strategies
The central programme strategy is using drama activities and role-play to enable children ages 8 to 11 in the year P5 to P7 (corresponding USA grades: 3 to 5) to participate together in the creation of an 'ideal community'. During an 8-week period of weekly workshops, the pupils take on specific roles within this fictional community, acting as advisors to other communities all over the world.

The pupils are also given a TAG Task to complete after each session which involves them taking action to make an actual change in their own local community and the global community. After 8 weeks of investigation and experiences, the pupils are invited to present their findings in a creative way at their school assembly.

The creation of a toolkit of techniques for teachers is a strategy for ensuring the sustainability of the project. In order to help build teachers' capacity to carry out related activities beyond the workshop period, teachers participate in an in-service session and are provided with a printed Global Citizens Handbook and an audio CD of the 'TAG Task Master', a fictitious ageing leader of the world who seeks the help of the children in creating a better global community. Intergenerational cooperation is a theme here.
Development Issues
Children, Political Development.
Key Points
Based in Glasgow, Scotland, TAG Theatre Company produces professional theatre and educational activities for children and young people aged 5-21. Having run the Global Citizens project in 11 schools throughout the autumn term 2004, TAG plans to work with more schools throughout 2005.

Global Citizens builds on TAG Theatre's Making the Nation project (1999-2001), which exposed approximately 25,000 young people aged 7-25 throughout Scotland and abroad to issues of government, democracy, and the Parliament. This project, which was an effort "to give Scotland's young people the opportunity to feel it is their Parliament too", examined citizenship at a local level through a series of 8 performance and participatory projects. The goal was to spur debate among young people by engaging them both intellectually and emotionally in issues surrounding the developing nation and by exciting them through the mediums of drama and theatre to engage with the political process.
Partners

UNICEF Scotland and TAG Theatre Company.

Sources

Email from Helen Black (Marketing & Press Co-ordinator, TAG Theatre Company) to The Communication Initiative on September 1 2004; and the Global Citizens page and Making the Nation page on the TAG Theatre website.