UN ENFOQUE PARTICIPATIVO DE INVESTIGACIÓN PARA LA COMUNICACIÓN COMUNITARIA EN MÉXICO

This article presents the participatory evaluation of four Community Communication Spaces (ECC for their initials in Spanish) that produce radio and video in the States of Oaxaca and Puebla, in Mexico. The ECC have been developed by Ojo de Agua, an NGO with more than ten years of experience in indigenous video production with the financial assistance of the government of the Basque Country in its initial stage. The methodology we designed had four stages: a) the systematization and summary of ten years of experience of Ojo de Agua, emphasizing its long term goals and the causes and consequences of their main problems and achievements; b) the ideas of Ojo de Agua regarding the ECC and its relationship with them in the medium and long terms and; c) the  ideas of the participants of the ECC about their everyday practices, their participation in the ECC, and the possible repercussions in their communities. Inspired in the tradition of popular education, for each of these stages we used participatory techniques to stimulate analysis and reflection. We are currently processing the data gathered in the three stages. Preliminary findings describe the participative nature of the evaluation and analyze the relationship between Ojo de Agua and the four ECC.