Three consecutive State-level Communications Strategy Workshops were held in the capitals of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal states to make it potentially possible for Ministers, Secretaries and Directors to be present. The aim of the workshops, as with all project activities, was to “contribute to ‘giving people a voice’ in policy-making processes that have an impact on their livelihoods.” The specific objectives were to review and orient participants to the project’s four outputs; draft a state-level communications strategy, including ideas for a monitoring and evaluation process; and report to and get feedback on these from state ministers, secretaries and directors.

Following an overview of the workshop aim, objectives and agenda, a Project Brief was presented followed by questions from participants to clarify information about the project. This is essentially part of a longer on-going process of awareness raising and encouraging comment and feedback on the work that STREAM and NRSP are doing with GVT, the Fisheries Departments of the three states, the Government of India and ICAR.

To generate ideas for state-level communications strategies for the project, and more widely for STREAM India, workshop participants worked in ‘stakeholder groups’ to discuss and report back: What we need to communicate about? how? by whom? and when? This elicited wide-ranging suggestions about which stakeholders to involve, the kinds of actions most valued by different groups, descriptions and opinions of different ways of working, and key communications challenges.

The information, suggestions and opinions about needs and modes of strategic communications will next feed into a planning process to design and pilot test various aspects of improved service delivery with government and NGO stakeholders.