Community Media for Kenya (CM4K): A review of milestones and opportunities

On September 25th 2015, at a Sustainable Development Summit in New York, more than 150 countries of the United Nations acknowledged a pressing need to ameliorate the marginalization and disenfranchisement endured by those living in poverty. Vowing to ‘Transform our world’ by 2030, the Summit adopted 17 aspirational Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals have since been adopted by all nations including Kenya. Discussing the significance of the SDGs, Sir Mike Aaronson – Chair of the Strategic Advisory Group for the Global Challenges Research Fund – recently emphasized the need to break out of traditional silo thinking and called on researchers to work in transformative ways by creating real and meaningful partnerships with local people defining the issues; committing to capacity-building; and understand how people might use technologies in the context of their lives. Aaronson’s call echoes the Partnership Education: Action and Research Learning Scenarios (PEARLS) approach of Community Media 4 Kenya, a partnership between the University of Brighton, UK and Rongo University, Kenya. Adopting a transformative approach to learning within and between academic and community partnerships, CM4K was established to focus on examining ways that community media practice and inquiry can be utilized to build healthy active and sustainable communities, within the context of the SDGs. This paper introduces the first year of a campaign to co-create a community radio station at Cham gi Wadu in Migori County, which seeks to contribute to the attainment of the national development goals of Kenya. The outcome of this campaign is expected to inform policy on the need to enhance integration of community media practice for faster achievement of National Development Goals by developing a national network of interested stakeholders.