Biography of paolo mefalopulos

Broadening the Boundaries of Communication

The history of development has included failures and disappointments, many of which have been asc... more The history of development has included failures and disappointments, many of which have been ascribed to two major intertwined factors: lack of participation and failure to use effective communication (Agunga 1997); Anyaegbunam, Mefalopulos, and Moetsabi 1998; Fraser and Restrepo-Estrada 1998; Mefalopulos 2003).

The same point is emphasized by Servaes (2003: 20), who states, "the successes and failures of most development projects are often determined by two crucial factors: communication and people's involvement." No matter what kind of project-agriculture, infrastructure, water, governance, health-it is always valuable, and often essential, to establish dialog among relevant stakeholders.

Dialog is the necessary ingredient in building trust, sharing knowledge and ensuring mutual understanding. Even a