DSAA Webinar

Welcome to The DSAA monthly webinar series!

Development is a dynamic space, bringing together research and practice across a range of disciplines. Our webinar series explores this diversity, bringing a new speaker who shares their expertise on a critical theme of interest every month. Each session will explore diverse topics, from building a CV for the international development sector to conducting community-based research and decolonising research practices. Through these interactive webinars, we aim to support HDR and ECR students in expanding their networks, gaining real-world insights, and advancing their academic and professional journeys.

You can replay previous webinars from our YouTube Channel @DSA_Australia

UPCOMING WEBINAR

How can community radio foster more participatory and locally led approaches to development?

Join us, on Wednesday 19th August 2026, for a DSAA webinar exploring the role of community radio as a catalyst for participatory development and social change.  

Drawing on examples from India, our speaker Professor Venu Arora will examine how community radio creates spaces for communities to produce, share, and shape the knowledge that informs their own development priorities, rather than simply receiving information from external actors. 

 At a time when many development initiatives continue to grapple with questions of participation and local ownership, community radio offers an alternative model grounded in dialogue, local leadership, and community agency. The session will explore how locally produced content, interactive programming, and community forums can amplify the voices of rural communities, women, Indigenous peoples, and young people, while supporting discussions on health, livelihoods, governance, and social justice. 

The webinar will also reflect on the continuing relevance of community radio in an era of rapid digital transformation, and what its participatory approach can teach development practitioners and researchers about community-driven development and communication for social change. 

Speaker: 

Venu Arora is a community radio enthusiast, gender equality activist, and media practitioner with over 25 years of experience. She is Associate Professor of Practice at the Jindal School of Journalism & Communication and Founding Director of the Centre for Media Development and Communication Rights. She has previously worked with UNDP and Equal Access International on communication for social change programs. 

As a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, Venu produced a research-based film series that strengthened work around sexual and reproductive health in India, while her film on female infanticide won India’s National Award. She has also led community radio training and research, digital media and information literacy, and gender empowerment initiatives through Ideosync Media Combine, a not-for-profit organisation she co-founded in 1998. Most recently, she was awarded the 2025–2026 Gilbert Fellowship by the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre at the University of Sydney. 

Moderator:  

Dr Valentina Baú is Co-Director of the Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI) at Western Sydney University and a member of the DSAA Executive Committee. Her work focuses on the use of communication for development (C4D) in both peacebuilding and humanitarian contexts. Valentina has worked in different African countries, Asia, and the Middle East. She has collaborated with international NGOs, UN agencies and the Italian Development Cooperation, both in a research and communication capacity. Her experience involves the implementation of both research and media projects with victims and perpetrators of conflict, displaced people, refugees and people living in extreme poverty. You can find out more about her work here. 

Date: Wednesday 19th August 2026
Time: 1:30 – 2:30pm AEST
Zoom join link: https://latrobe.zoom.us/j/83442411326

Leave space here