Global Action Methodologies for Empowerment to Change

GAMEChange Empowerment Methodologies (GEMs)

GAMEChange Empowerment Methodologies (GEMs) empower thousands of ‘champions’ to achieve their visions, implement collective actions and increase their voice in policy advocacy.

Picture diagrams empower ‘champions’ from all backgrounds to vision, analyse, implement and track their individual and collective strategies for progressive change.

Transformatory facilitation inspires ‘champions’ to use GEMs to transform their own lives and those of families, friends and wider community.

Inclusive leadership strengthening supports thousands of ‘community champions’ to grow their own social support networks from community to policy levels.

THINKING WITH PICTURE DIAGRAMS

GAMEChange empowerment methodologies (GEMs) use picture diagrams
to empower women and men from all backgrounds to vision, analyse, implement and track
their own individual and collective strategies for change.

Symbol Pictures as Visual communication

Visual communication has become a very important skill for everyone from villages to boardrooms in the modern world.

  • more information on a page: pictures and diagrams can clarify complex concepts, identify interrelationships between issues and clearly prioritise ways forward.
  • everyone can participate equally: People who cannot read and write can communicate directly with powerful stakeholders. Different language speakers can understand a lot without translation.
  • improves learning: People remember more information when it is visual than when it is written.

Picture diagram templates

GAMEChange methodologies adapt four picture diagram templates for different issues, contexts and processes. These diagrams:

  • inspire participants to vision possibilities for change
  • ask and analyse certain questions based on participants’ own experience
  • prioritise both immediate and longer term actions for change
  • track progress on actions over time and share lessons with others
  • Vision Journeys

    Vision Journeys

    Vision Journeys are SMART strategic planning tools. They incorporate SWOT analysis and milestones and action to tracked over time to…

  • Action Trees

    Action Trees

    Action Trees clarify very complex realities at a particular point in time. They produce SMART action fruits to prioritise ways…

  • Empowerment Maps

    Empowerment Maps

    Empowerment maps identify stakeholders, families, communities, organisations and networks. Analysing interlinkages and power relations help think about strategies for change.…

  • Diamond Visions

    Diamond Visions

    Diamond Visions are participatory frameworks to vision, examine and negotiate sensitive, complex and/or conflictual issues.

Visual Communication and Drawing, West Bengal, India
Men’s Gender Challenge Action Tree for women’s land ownership, Kenya
Joseph’s Coffee Business Tree, Tanzania
Vision Journey Multi-lane Plan, Uganda

Facilitation for Transformation

Fun with a Serious Purpose

GAMEChange facilitators do not aim to ‘teach tools’ or ‘political correctness’ but help participants transform and get more control over their lives.

Participants need to have fun and gain confidence to innovate and change. This means promoting participant experiential learning through many different channels:

  • Picture drawing
  • Songs and Dance
  • Role Play Dramas

Underlying each of these methods are:

  • empowering and fun ‘disruption of comfort zones’
  • experiential leadership and deep listening
  • ‘facipulation from the back’

The best facilitation is if the facilitator can leave the room and participants continue working with enthusiasm. Then participant ‘champions’ can continue to inspire change in other people when they get home.

GEMS Facilitation Principles and non-negotiables

All GEMs follow a number of common facilitation principles and non-negotiables:

  • Inspiration is key
  • Inclusion and respect for all
  • Self-reliance
  • Everyone can be a leader of change
  • Action from day 1
  • Reflective learning
  • Community-led and multi-stakeholder
  • Social justice principles of gender and diversity rights are mainstreamed and non-negotiable
  • Symbol Pictures

    Symbol Pictures

    “A Picture [can be] worth a thousand words.” But drawing is not just ‘pretty pictures for illiterates’. GEMs symbol drawing…

  • Songs and Dance

    Songs and Dance

    GEMs songs and dances inspire with visions of change, subvert cultural stereotypes, and celebrate new ways of doing things in…

  • Role-play Dramas

    Role-play Dramas

    GEMs role-play dramas enable people to experience how other people feel and rehearse being ‘the new me’. Spontaneous improvisation discovers…

everyone can be a leader (ILEAD)

GAMEChange empowerment methodologies aim to inspire a sustainable and dynamic change movement.

The main sharing and capacity-building takes place within participants’ social networks, within households, communities and local groups.

Through sharing GEMs and their experiences of change within their social networks and beyond, champions further improve their own success.

Peer Sharing Role Play, Uganda
We Are the Champions Song, Kenya men coffee farmers
The Leaders are Us! East Africa champions Kenya and Tanzania

Key GEMs toolkits

GEMs methodologies can flexibly adapt for different activities, stakeholders, contexts and local capacities.
There are no blueprints, but many possibilities for innovation.
Some of the most tried and tested adaptations are found through the links below.

Gender Justice

  • Gender Justice Review (GJR)

    Gender Justice Review (GJR)

    Gender Justice Reviews are participatory community-led GALS events that assess gender achievements and challenges to develop new gender action plans.…

  • Empowerment Against Violence (EAV)

    Empowerment Against Violence (EAV)

    EAV works with women and men within families, communities and institutions to examine and address different forms of Gender-Based Violence.…

  • Gender Action Learning System (GALS)

    Gender Action Learning System (GALS)

    Gender Action Learning ‘System’ (GALS) adapts GEMs participatory visioning, planning and documentation methodologies to promote Gender Justice and empower women…

Equitable Wealth Creation