Toolkit: Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Academy

Social and behaviour change (SBC) and community engagement are tightly interconnected in promoting safe migration.

SBC involves engaging communities through tailored interventions and ensuring messages align with cultural values. In the context of safe migration, community engagement serves as the platform for implementing SBC initiatives, fostering two-way communication and addressing local concerns. This collaboration allows for contextually relevant campaigns, training, and advocacy efforts.

The synergy between SBC and community engagement creates a dynamic partnership, where local insights inform behaviour change strategies, fostering ownership and collective responsibility within communities. This powerful combination drives positive changes in migration behaviour, contributing to safer and more informed practices.

Day 1: An introduction to SBC (led by MAGENTA)

The first day of the SBC Academy focused on:

• SBC is and how it compares to traditional approaches;

• The Behavioural Drivers Model, the Social Ecological Model and the COM-B Model;

• Qualitative and quantitative methods including stakeholder interviews, focus groups, informant interviews, observations, and surveys;

• How to segment audiences and construct a compelling narrative about behavioural research.

Key takeaways:

• SBC is a process to understand human behaviours and social phenomena in order to support individuals and communities to adopt positive practices.

• People are complex and their decision making is based on their thoughts, their emotions, their beliefs and memories, as well as who they interact with.

• Audience segmentation is important because within large groups, people are not all the same. We can tailor our messaging, outreach strategy and activities to more effectively engage different sub-groups. 

• A SBC approach to problem-solving follows the the following steps: 1. Research; 2. Design; 3. Implement; 4. Assess.

• Storytelling is a powerful way to bring research results to life and inspire action. 

Day 2: Strategic approaches to SBC (led by MAGENTA)

The second day of the SBC Academy focused on:

• How to design an SBC theory of change;

• Developing frames and messages;

• A wide range of possible interventions that can be used to change behaviour with the EAST framework as a guide and the IN CASE framework to explore unexpected consequences. 

• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for SBC and how it compares to programmatic M&E. 

Key takeaways:

• An SBC Theory of Change starts with long term impact then promoted behaviours, behavioral drivers, SBC outputs and SBC activities.

• Developing effective key messages requires determining the frame (how you want your audience to perceive the issue), the precise phrasing of the messages and then testing the messages.

• To choose between potential SBC interventions consider feasibility and the likelihood of impact.

• After testing, you should pilot your intervention with a smaller group before scaling it.

• Experimental approaches are the gold standard for evaluating interventions but quasi-experimental and non-experimental are also used, depending on timing and budgets.

 

Want to learn more about the basics of SBC? UNICEF has a free online course that provides the knowledge and skills to develop and lead Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) activities and programmes.

Day 3: Community engagement and SBC (led by IOM)

The third day of the SBC Academy focused on:

• The 5 types of community engagement approaches under COMPASS:  1. Advocacy; 2. Awareness raising and outreach; 3. Community dialogue; 4. Peer education; and 5. Local partnerships (page 12 in the SBC Academy Workbook).
• The 5 step model for participatory project design and implementation.
• The importance of empathy in community engagement.
• IOM tools and resources for community engagement and SBC - Yenna and the Migration Protection Platform. 

Key takeaways:

• The 5 different community engagement approaches allow for flexibility while also fitting into the COMPASS results framework (page 13 in the SBC Academy Workbook).
• The 5 step model helps turn community engagement into tangible projects through a participatory approach.
• The gold standard for working with communities is the Community-Based Planning (CBP) model.
• Empathy plays a crucial role in SBC. It helps create deeper connections, fosters trust, and promotes meaningful engagement with individuals and communities.
• Get inspired by past examples of creative, collaborative community engagement! Check out Street Art; Social Theatre; Sports; and Games.

 

Day 4: Collaborating for change (led by IOM)

The fourth day of the SBC Academy focused on:

• Working with volunteers
• Applying the 5 step model through a design challenge
• Crafting a creative brief and elevator pitch 

Key takeaways:

• Volunteers are crucial to SBC efforts and we need strategies to engage, train, and motivate them as champions of change. Migrants as Messengers is one example of working with returned migrants as volunteers.
• A creative brief provides direction to the creatives who you’ll work with to create project materials such as video, infographics, posters etc. It clarifies the vision of your project in a way that is easy to understand and take forward.
• An elevator pitch is a concise and persuasive way of explaining an idea.

Community action challenge

We are diving into the real-world challenge of irregular migration in the community of Happyland. IOM needs your help to design a community action plan that prevents irregular migration and supports the reintegration of returning migrants. However, there is a twist – there is a smuggler in disguise among you, aiming to sway the plan’s direction. Your mission is to collaboratively spot the smuggler and craft an effective action plan that stands strong against their influence.