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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Cl@se: The Adventure of Knowing

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Cl@se: The Adventure of Knowing (La Aventura del Saber) is a multimedia programme that offers televised educational entertainment 24 hours per day throughout Latin America. Exempt of commercial content, Cl@se is designed to strengthen curricula in secondary and primary schools. Its objective is to offer high-quality resources on screen, as well as support materials, to bolster the education of students between 6 and 18 years of age in Latin America.
Communication Strategies
Cl@se offers students progressive programming that includes themes of science, history, math, foreign languages, and the arts. To carry out this process, Cl@se uses:
  • television - programming is transmitted to private TV satellite carriers and by cable
  • the Internet - click here for the Cl@se website (Spanish only)
  • printed materials - Cl@se provides supplementary material and educational guides for students and teachers.
As suggested by the project's subtitle, "The Adventure of Knowing", the key programme approach is making learning amusing and captivating. The goal is to stimulate creativity in children using a teaching style that is entertaining and energising.

Partnership is a central strategy for increasing students' access to the Cl@se programming and materials. Although Cl@se is a private channel, Cl@se collaborates with government authorities and foundations to facilitate transmission of the service to schools. The Teachers Updating Project (GO ME) of the Fundación Cisneros carries the channel to 137 schools in Argentina, Mexico, Equator, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica and Venezuela. In Mexico, 30,000 schools have access to the programming thanks to an agreement with the Latin-American Institute for the Educational Communication (ILCE). In Costa Rica, 154 schools receive the signal through a project sponsored by the government and coordinated by the National Center of Teaching (CENADI). 7,500 rural schools in Argentina receive Cl@se through the initiative Schools without Borders of the Office of the Secretary of Communication.
Development Issues
Education, Children, Youth.
Partners

Fundación Cisneros.

Sources

Cl@se website (Spanish only).

Placed on La Iniciativa de Comunicaci