Comments on: Rethinking “Sustainability” in International Media Development

By: Rethinking “Sustainability” in International Media Development « Adventures in Media Development

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:45:31 +0000

[...] Author’s Note: This post was originally published with some differences elsewhere, also titled “Rethinking ‘Sustainability’ in International Media Development“. [...]

By: Ben Colmery

Ben Colmery — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:47:45 +0000

Thanks, Eamon. In funding this project, I had to address this issue of sustainability in the grant proposal. After all was said and done, when I was evaluating the project, and looking back over that section, I realized that there was so much more about the project that gave it sustainability that I hadn’t even accounted for . I also realized that even if none of the sustainability I had tried to build in wasn’t achieved, the benefits of what WAS sustainable seemed as though they would have more than justified the project.

When I worked in Ukraine, this word “sustainability” was all over the place. Now, here at SIPA, I am hearing it all over the place again. Whereas I agree with it in principle, I think it can also be dangerous to project thinking at times. I am also concerned that it is a development fad right now. So, in the face of this, I entered this post into the argument to offer a friendly challenge to what I think is an important notion.

I think you are right. I think media is a little different in development, at least in terms of sustainability.

By: Eamon

Eamon — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:52:01 +0000

Great post. I began reading it with skepticism — sustainability is extremely important in development work and shouldn’t be shrugged at. But your anecdotes are very convincing. Maybe media is different because, in a way, it procreates. Still, I’d want to see an analysis like yours in every media development proposal, rather than a simple disregard of sustainability.

Loved the stories from Ukraine.