Development action with informed and engaged societies

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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Urban Lottery - Guadalajara, Mexico

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The Urban Lottery game was organised by the School of Communication, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO), Jalisco, Mexico. Based on the traditional Mexican lottery, this game represents the city in all its colours: its problems and pains, joys and traditions, institutions and activities, and memories and places.
Communication Strategies
The game consists of 45 cards with photographs, ten sheets with nine photographs each, one blank sheet with nine squares, a guide, a book with texts that speak about the city, and a bag with numbers. A maximum of ten players can play; once a player matches his or her nine squares on the blank sheet he or she wins the game and must interpret and "read" the city according to the photographs on the sheet. Other players may then read their own cards, leading to an open discussion of the city.

Photographs, which represent different aspects of the city, emphasise health issues like nutrition, HIV/AIDS, smoking, alcohol use, drug use, young mothers, violence, pornography, death, and poverty.
Development Issues
Health, Youth.
Key Points
Launched in May 2001 at a popular festival, the game has been used in schools and in public spaces, particularly with young people. As of June 2007, the editon is sold out, but organisers expect that another version will be released shortly.

Here are the publishing details for the game:
Urban Lottery, or Lotería Urbana
Un juego para pensar la ciudad
Rossana Reguillo directora
Margarita Hernández Coordinadora
Editorial, ITESO, 2001, Guadalajara

Inside of the box there is a book titled "El laberinto, el conjuro y la ventana. Itinerarios para mirar la ciudad"; it includes essays by Carlos Monsiváis, Jesús Martín Barbero, and Rossana Reguillo.
Sources

"Documenting and Sharing Learning in Health Communication for Development - A Literature Review." Prepared by Rafael Obreg