Specialist short course

Living without safe access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities (WASH) can cause major health issues, as well as risk, anxiety, economic and psychosocial stress.

Increasingly, funders are asking practitioners and researchers working for photos to amplify this important message – but it can be a struggle to ethically take photos of WASH issues that represent the complexity of the reality and the human experience.

These issues deal with difficult, hidden and taboo areas of life, which people don’t really want to talk about, let alone look at. They can also deal with seemingly mundane issues which people can overlook as unimportant.

More often than not, practitioners and researchers end up with photos of taps and toilets, losing the human experiences beyond the physical infrastructure.

But it can be very powerful for people to hear about, see and feel moved by unpleasant WASH challenges if they are communicated in a respectful way. This is where the creativity encouraged by participatory visual methods can provide useful principles to follow.

This training offers participants new approaches and insights that they can use to tell more compelling and respectful stories that amplify the messages needed to achieve water, sanitation and hygiene for all.

It was an amazing opportunity to learn how we may advance our water and sanitation advocacy services in Kigoma region, Tanzania through visual communications.

- Alpha Ntayomba, Population Development Initiative, Tanzania

Course aims

To equip individuals and organisations to take respectful, ethical photos that represent the complex realities of WASH issues.

Who should attend?

Practitioners working in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene who are interested in using photos in their communications, research or advocacy work.

This may include researchers, communications officers, programme managers, funders, monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) specialists and others.

How you will learn

You’ll learn through a mixture of presentations, group discussion and individual homework tasks.

The homework will include taking photos on chosen themes (you can see some examples from the previous course in this blog). We will draw on the Photovoice method and structure our live sessions around “photo dialogues” where we will explore the photos taken.

The course will include:

a grounding in visual literacy – how photos can be ‘read’ and interpreted as positive and negative
the importance of caption-writing
an exploration of GEDSI (gender equality, disability and social inclusion) principles.

We will also provide a reading list, workbook with accompanying exercises, and facilitation notes so you can cascade the learning to your colleagues.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, participants will:

Recognise the value and have deeper insight into imagery (photographs in particular) as an important medium for equity and inclusion in WASH.
Have strengthened skills to take WASH-related photos that ‘do no harm’, with the potential to support and amplify the agency of marginalised people and communities.
Be equipped to adapt and replicate this training with their colleagues.

Why study this course with IDS?

Our course facilitators for “Using ethical images in the WASH sector” are Alice Webb and Ruhil Iyer from the Sanitation Learning Hub. Alice Webb is an experienced communications and knowledge professional with a strong interest in participatory methods. She has provided the Sanitation Learning Hub with strategic communications support for four years. She is a trained Photovoice facilitator and has a wealth of experience in designing and running training sessions for IDS projects. Ruhil Iyer is an experienced researcher specialising in sanitation and hygiene and participatory approaches. She has led the Sanitation Learning Hub’s work on climate change and written extensively on inclusion within WASH programmes. Together Alice and Ruhil have a wealth of subject knowledge and a deep understanding of the principles behind communicating difficult topics in a respectful and ethical manner.
The course is interactive and will allow time for peer knowledge sharing and ideas generation in discussion groups comprised of professionals and practitioners in international development.
Learn with the number 1 ranking institute in the world for development studies – ensuring the highest quality of teaching, as well as impact and range of international development research.
IDS’ partnerships ensure our research has real-world impact. This means that our courses are designed to be applied and implemented in practical settings. This guarantees that you will acquire solutions to your organisation’s challenges that can be implemented practically.

Participant testimonial

‘It was an amazing opportunity to learn how we may advance our water and sanitation advocacy services in Kigoma region, Tanzania through visual communications. I had a chance to learn with colleagues from other countries effective and professional visual communication which may receive larger audiences and influence actions from duty bearers. I was impressed the interactions and sharing our photos followed by constructive comments from trainers and colleagues which played a vital role in the way we take and use our photos for learning, sharing our work or advocacy.

I shared the lessons with my colleagues at PDI especially the Advocacy and Communications Unit which now utilise the skills and knowledge gained in our pilot programs of promoting responsible mining among mining communities in Geita District, Tanzania and Social Accountability Monitoring for improved water and sanitation services in Kigoma-Ujiji municipality in Tanzania.

We are grateful to Sanitation Learning Hub for this learning opportunity which added value in the way we use visual communications for our advocacy work.’

~ Alpha Ntayomba, Population Development Initiative, Tanzania

Entry requirements

This course is open to anyone working in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector, with any level of subject knowledge.

The course is taught in English. To derive the maximum benefit from the course, you should be proficient in English and able to take an active part in discussions. Your English needs to be of an intermediate standard or higher. Ideally you will have an International English Language Test System (IELTS) score of 6.5 or above, or a Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) score of B2 or above.

You will need an internet connection sufficient to stream live video (Zoom, Facetime or similar) in order to engage fully with the course. Participants will also need to have a device that takes photos, and be able to transfer those photos to the internet.

Course fees

Course fees start from £485 per person.

Fees are as follows (see ‘discounts’ section for more information):

Discount Type	Discount Amount	Discounted Fee
Small non profits + group booking	30%	£485
IDS & Sussex alumni	20%	£554
Short course alumni	20%	£554
Small non profits (income under £10 million)	20%	£554
Group discount (three-five places)	10%	£623.7

The full course fee is £693

Once you have received confirmation that your application has been approved, the fee must be paid in full to secure your place on the course.

Pay course fees in instalments

You can now pay for your place on this course in instalments. To organise paying in monthly instalments, please email [email protected].

Please note that you will need to have paid the final amount by the start of the course, so please contact us as soon as possible ahead of the course start date to arrange this.

Discounts

Non profits

A 20% discount on course fees is offered to participants from small not-for-profit organisations (income under £10 million). Please indicate in your application if you wish to be considered for this discount. There is a limited number of this discount offered, at the discretion of the course convenor.

IDS and Sussex Alumni

A 20% discount on course fees is offered to participants who have studied with IDS and the University of Sussex, including both postgraduate and short courses.

Group discounts

Groups of three to five participants from one organisation will be offered a 10% discount on the total fee. (This discount can be used in conjunction with other discounts. i.e. a small non-profit booking three places qualifies for a 30% discount). If you make a group booking, you get an additional workshop tailored to your programme or project.

Early bird discount

We offer a 10% early bird discount for anyone who is accepted and makes payment within two of months of the course being advertised.

If you have any questions about your eligibility for these discounts, please contact the short courses team.

Please note the maximum discount is 30%.

How to apply

Before applying to any IDS courses please read our short course booking Terms_and_Conditions (pdf) and IDS Code of Conduct (pdf).

The application procedure for this course is a three-stage process:

Stage 1: Apply by completing an online application form.

Stage 2: Make a payment via the application form.

Stage 3: Once fees have been received, you will be sent confirmation of your place on the course.

Dates for the next iteration for the course are yet to be confirmed. To register your interest in future sessions, please contact us at [email protected].