Building Resilient Futures: Integrated Communication for Climate, Nutrition, and Community Action

The Ifaa project, meaning "light" in Afaan Oromo, is a Resilience Food Security Activity (2021–2026) in Ethiopia's Oromia region that demonstrates how integrated multimedia approaches can mobilize systems for collective resilience by addressing overlapping barriers to health and rights through intersectionality in practice. Implemented across nine districts in East Hararghe, Ifaa reduces poverty, vulnerability, and food insecurity by empowering communities and transforming systems with a robust Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) portfolio spanning six sectors and 40+ topics. Guided by Human-Centered Design (HCD), content advisory groups ensured messages were empathetic, inclusive, and actionable, reflecting lived realities and cultural contexts. . Localization and co-creation enhanced trust and uptake, while cross-sector alignment minimized duplication and reinforced consistent messaging, creating coherent environments for habit formation. Multimodal delivery improved accessibility for low-connectivity and illiterate audiences, while print and in-person facilitation ensured inclusivity. Lessons learned highlight that relatable, co-designed content increased participation and repeat exposure, while integrated delivery systems strengthened resilience. Implications include a replicable, scalable model adaptable to diverse geographies, sustained engagement through modular content, and digital optimization for low-bandwidth contexts. Equity-driven design surfaced overlapping barriers like, language access, and mobility, making behaviors easier to adopt across varied identities. By embedding intersectionality and inclusivity, Ifaa's integrated multimedia approach demonstrates how collective resilience can be strengthened through practical, relatable, and measurable solutions.

The Climate Story Lab is a story-to-impact initiative that equips Filipino filmmakers to craft climate justice narratives grounded in lived experience. Co-organized by DAKILA and Active Vista with Picture People MSP, and supported by the British Council and the Rockefeller Foundation, the lab merges climate science, storytelling, and community impact design to amplify behavior-driven, culturally resonant narratives.
Following intensive training on social impact film production and storytelling, participating creatives developed pitches for films in a competitive process judged by media industry professionals. Four seed grants were awarded to the winners who received mentorship throughout film production phases. Each film has a highly distinct style and approach, showing different impacts of climate change at local level in the Philippines, and offering insights into adaption and mitigation practices, with key educational messages.
This presentation showcases two of the films, Vanishing Fireflies and The Prophecy, as powerful examples of behavior-centered storytelling.
The Climate Story Lab supports the films with toolkits and impact campaigns targeting schools, local government units (LGUs), and advocacy groups. This multimedia initiative shows how SBCC can move beyond information campaigns to narrative models that inspire not just awareness, but action rooted in empathy, identity, and cultural memory.