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As of March 2012, e-learning modules on the following international frameworks are available online and
in the accompanying DVD:
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Traditional Knowledge and Customary Sustainable Use of Biodiversity
Access and Benefit Sharing
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
In the coming months, several additional modules will be developed on other key international
frameworks as well as national laws and policies in select countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. They
will be posted on www.community-protocols.org/toolkit as they become available. As they are first
versions, all of the modules are open to comment, further input, and feedback on local experiences.
TOOL: Legislative Theatre
Purpose: This tool can be adapted and used to submit legal reports to key decision-makers such as
parliament based on community suggestions for legislative change.
Resource: Adapted from material provided by Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization
See Part I: Section IV/B1 for a description of Participatory Theatre and two additional theatre tools
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Use the Forum Theatre tool to prepare and perform plays that relate to the community and issues
contained in the protocol.
Invite a trusted pro bono lawyer to observe and take notes of suggestions for change arising from
the play and audience responses.
Work with the lawyer to compile a legal report that can be presented to your city, state, or
national parliament or other key decision-makers such as directors of government departments.
Follow up with the process as appropriate.
In the early 1990s, Augusto Boal (the founder of Forum Theatre) was voted a member of the city
parliament of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After realizing how little contact there was between elected
officials and their constituencies, he decided to combine Forum Theatre with the power of law as a tool
for social change. Through a process dubbed as Legislative Theatre, legal reports based on the plays
were presented to parliament and resulted in 13 related laws being passed in only 2 years.
Box 31: The emergence and early influence of Legislative Theatre in Rio de Janeiro
TOOL: Principles for Public Participation in Impact Assessments
Purpose: This tool can be adapted and used to help evaluate the process of community participation in
an external or independent impact assessment. It can also be used as the basis for proactively
developing a participation process for a community-driven impact assessment.
Resource: Adapted from “Model of Best Practice for Public Participation in Environmental Assessment”
and “Public Participation Review Template” in A One-Stop Participation Guide: A Handbook for Public
Participation in Environmental Assessment in Southern Africa (SAIEA, 2004)
External or independent impact assessments include a public participation process in order to ensure
various stakeholders’ views and concerns are sufficiently addressed. If your community has been or has
the opportunity to be involved in such a process or to develop your own, this generic tool can be used to
help evaluate its quality and integrity.
Table 13 below outlines principles and guiding questions based on the SAIEA model of best practice and
public participation review template. The assessment of each question could be done based on the