Dr Valentina Bau

Dr Valentina Bau

Honorary Senior Lecturer

PhD International Communication: Communication for Development in Peacebuilding (Macquarie University, Australia)

MSc Communication for Development (University of Reading, UK)

MA Public Relations (Bournemouth University, UK)

BA (Hons) Media & Communication Studies (University of Perugia, Italy)

Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA)
School of the Arts and Media

I am a Senior Research Fellow at Western Sydney University, Institute for Culture and Society. I am also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at UNSW. I conduct research on the application of Communication for Development in Peacebuilding with a focus on realities affected by violent conflict and forced displacement. I explore and evaluate new communication for development approaches that employ different media and communication channels to contribute to social change and sustainable peace in the aftermath of (or during) violence. I also look at the application of communication for development for citizen engagement and youth participation in governance and peacebuilding. My more recent work has begun to explore the use of Communication for Development in the context of crisis response interventions, with the aim of developing new frameworks that can link the implementation of applied research with the production of theoretical knowledge, whose translation can inform practice. I am currently Chief Investigator on an Australia Research Council Discovery Award on Development Communication, Media and Peace in Protracted Displacement. This three year project (2022-2024) investigates the use of media and communication from humanitarian organisations in promoting peace and social cohesion among young refugees living in camps; the aim is to develop a new a approach that brings together C4D and CwC in complex settings of protracted encampment.

My PhD has looked at the ways in which participatory media can be used as storytelling tools to share experiences of war among hostile communities in the aftermath of a civil war, and how sharing stories through the media can facilitate healing and reconciliation. As part of my doctorate project, I worked on the evaluation of two participatory media activities implemented in Kenya in the aftermath of the 2007/2008 Post-Election Violence. I assessed the impact of these projects in relation to ethnic reconciliation between and among communities in specific areas of the Rift Valley, where I spent three months interviewing both victims and perpetrators of the 2007/2008 conflict who have been in contact with these media productions.

More generally, I am also interested in looking at the different ways communication can be used in development contexts (particularly in post-conflict settings), as well as in understanding the impact that an introduction to the use of the media has on communities living in extreme poverty. I collaborate with UNICEF and other international NGOs on different projects related to Communication for Development and media for peace.

Prior to the start of my academic career, I have worked as an international development professional for various non-governmental organisations, government departments and the United Nations, both in Head Offices and in Country Offices in African settings. 

I am a Thematic Editor for Development in Practice journal, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Creative Communications, and an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies.

To find out more about my research and publications, visit my research profile page on Academia.edu.au or my website www.c4dpeace.com.

Phone
+61 2 9685 9038
Location
Western Sydney University Institute for Culture & Society (ICS) Building EM - G05 Locked Bag 1797 Penrith NSW 2751 Australia
  • Book Chapters | 2023
    Baú V, 2023, 'Communication for development', in Elgar Encyclopedia of Development, Edward Elgar, pp. 101 - 104, http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781800372122.ch23
    Book Chapters | 2023
    Baú V, 2023, 'Media Literacy and Conflict. Understanding mediated communication for the achievement of peace and development', in Servaes J; Yushau MJ (ed.), SDG18 Communication for All. The Missing Link between SDGs and Global Agendas, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 177 - 197, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-19142-8_7
    Book Chapters | 2019
    Baú V, 2019, 'Re-designing the Media in Humanitarian Interventions Communicating with Communities at Times of Crisis', in Reporting Human Rights, Conflicts, and Peacebuilding: Critical and Global Perspectives, pp. 67 - 81, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10719-2_5
    Book Chapters | 2019
    Baú V, 2019, 'Re-designing the Media in Humanitarian Interventions. Communicating with communities at times of crisis', in Shaw I; Selvarajah S (ed.), Media, Human Rights and Conflicts: Reporting human rights in times of conflict, London, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 67 - 81, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10719-2
    Book Chapters | 2019
    Calandro E; Baú V, 2019, 'Digital Media and Information Rights', in Hobbs R; Mihailidis P (ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy, Wiley-Blackwell, Boston, pp. 1 - 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118978238.ieml0234
    Book Chapters | 2014
    Baú V, 2014, 'Communities and Media in the Aftermath of Conflict: participatory productions for reconciliation and peace', in Cultivating Peace: contexts, practices and multidimensional models, Cambridge University Press, pp. 266 - 282, http://assets.cambridge.org/97811070/53618/toc/9781107053618_toc.pdf
    Book Chapters | 2014
    Baú V, 2014, 'Video Technology and Participatory Approaches to Peace – From technological determinism to self-empowerment and social change. An experience from Kenya', in Technological Determinism and Social Change: communication in a tech-mad world, Lexington Books, pp. 243 - 258
  • Journal articles | 2024
    Baú V, 2024, 'Communicating Social Cohesion in Forced Displacement: A Framework for Protracted Situations of Encampment', Social Sciences, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/socsci13100542
    Journal articles | 2024
    Baú V, 2024, 'Communicative Ecologies of Displaced Youth Ways of Connecting in Protracted Situations of Encampment', Communication Studies, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2024.2395592
    Journal articles | 2024
    Baú V, 2024, 'Viewing life as a timeline: Digital visual research to retrace people's journeys', Qualitative Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14687941241230233
    Journal articles | 2023
    Joshi B; Baú V; Ryder P, 2023, 'Looking Beyond Organisational Approaches to Advance Communication Practice: an examination of development projects in India', Development in Practice, 34, pp. 255 - 272, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2023.2246687
    Journal articles | 2022
    Baú V, 2022, 'Framing the Representation of Refugee Children and Adolescents: A Key Informant Review of the Italian Media', Media Watch, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09760911221086049
    Journal articles | 2022
    Baú V, 2022, 'Reality TV and civic engagement: Researching the lives of the young Palestinians who ran for ‘The President’', Creative Industries Journal, 17, pp. 567 - 587, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17510694.2022.2161239
    Journal articles | 2022
    Baú V, 2022, 'When Visual Research Goes Online: investigating the lives of former reality TV participants', SAGE Research Method Cases, http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781529603217
    Journal articles | 2020
    Baú V; Calandro E, 2020, 'The Experience of Internet Freedom among African Users', International Journal of Communication, 14, pp. 6072 - 6086, https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/16572/3289
    Journal articles | 2020
    Baú V, 2020, 'Open publishing, decentralisation, and the rise of new media platforms: reflecting on the IMC experience of Australia', Media, Culture and Society, 42, pp. 1039 - 1043, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0163443720926045
    Journal articles | 2020
    Baú V, 2020, 'Peacebuilding and Communication', Oxford Bibliographies in Communication, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199756841-0251
    Journal articles | 2020
    Baú V, 2020, 'What killed Indymedia? Lessons from the IMC experience of Australia', Journal of Alternative and Community Media, 5, pp. 191 - 210, http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/joacm_00083_1
    Journal articles | 2019
    Baú V, 2019, 'Building a Combined Framework of Analysis to Understand Displaced Adolescents’ Communication through Art', SAGE Research Methods Cases, http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526484208
    Journal articles | 2018
    Baú V, 2018, 'Breaking the Conflict Cycle, Building Peaceful Communities: participatory photography and storytelling with African diasporas in Sydney', Journal of Communication Inquiry, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0196859918784972
    Journal articles | 2018
    Baú V, 2018, 'Leaving the Camps Behind: The Role of Development Communication in Refugee-Host Integration', Communication Research and Practice, 4, pp. 361 - 374, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2018.1431865
    Journal articles | 2018
    Baú V, 2018, 'Media, Participation and Healing: community-led content to overcome the trauma of conflict', Online Journal of Art & Design (OJAD), 6, pp. 61 - 81, http://www.adjournal.net/articles/62/625.pdf
    Journal articles | 2018
    Baú V, 2018, 'Participatory Communication, Theatre and Peace. Performance as a tool for change at the end of conflict', Communicatio, Vol.44, pp. 34 - 54, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2018.1443484
    Journal articles | 2018
    Baú V, 2018, 'Radio, Conflict and Land Grabbing in Sierra Leone. Communicating rights and preventing violence through drama', Media, War and Conflict, 12, pp. 373 - 391, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1750635218789434
    Journal articles | 2017
    Baú V, 2017, 'Art, Development and Peace Working with Adolescents Living in Internally Displaced People's Camps in Mindanao', Journal of International Development, 29, pp. 948 - 960, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jid.3280
    Journal articles | 2017
    Baú V, 2017, 'Evaluating the Use of Communication for Development in Conflict Interventions', Commons. Comunicación y Ciudadanía Digital, 6, pp. 96 - 112, http://revistas.uca.es/index.php/cayp/article/view/3292
    Journal articles | 2016
    Baú V, 2016, 'A Narrative Approach in Evaluation:“Narratives of Change” method', Qualitative Research Journal, 16, pp. 374 - 387, http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-08-2015-0072
    Journal articles | 2016
    Baú V, 2016, 'Citizen Engagement in Peacebuilding: a communication for development approach to rebuilding peace from the bottom-up', Progress in Development Studies, 16, pp. 348 - 360, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1464993416663052
    Journal articles | 2016
    Baú V, 2016, 'Communication for development in peacebuilding: directions on research and evaluation for an emerging field', Critical Arts: a south-north journal of cultural and media studies, Vol.29, pp. 801 - 818, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2015.1151115
    Journal articles | 2016
    Baú V, 2016, 'Waving the flag for development communication: Why there is still hope for communication research', International Communication Gazette, 78, pp. 711 - 715, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1748048516655733
    Journal articles | 2015
    Baú V, 2015, 'Building peace through social change communication: Participatory video in conflictaffected communities', Community Development Journal, 50, pp. 121 - 137, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsu025
    Journal articles | 2015
    Baú V, 2015, 'Participatory Photography for Peace. Using images to open up dialogue after violence', Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, Vol.10, pp. 74 - 88, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15423166.2015.1050798
    Journal articles | 2014
    Baú V, 2014, 'Telling Stories of War through the Screen. Participatory video approaches and practice to bring peace in conflict-affected contexts', Conflict & Communication Online, Vol.13, pp. 1 - 9, http://www.cco.regener-online.de/2014_1/pdf/ba%C3%BA.pdf
    Journal articles | 2014
    Harris, U. ; Baú V, 2014, 'Harnessing Participatory Media Technology for Community Development: choices and implications for practitioners', Development Bulletin, Vol.76, pp. 31 - 34, https://crawford.anu.edu.au/rmap/devnet/devnet/db-76.pdf
    Journal articles | 2013
    Baú V, 2013, 'Stories in Reconciliation: Reflections on Community Participation for Restoring Relationships and Transforming Conflict', Peace Studies Journal, 6, pp. 42 - 57, http://peacestudiesjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PSJ-Vol-6-Issue-2-2013.pdf
    Journal articles | 2010
    Baú V, 2010, 'Media and conflict in Sierra Leone: national and international perspectives of the civil war', Global Media Journal – African Edition, Vol.4, pp. 20 - 27, http://dx.doi.org/10.5789/4-1-10
    Journal articles | 2009
    Baú V, 2009, 'Media and Communication for Gender and Development', Southern African Media Diversity Journal, Vol.6, pp. 170 - 174
  • Reports | 2023
    Baú V; Georgeou N, 2023, Media, Art and Stories. A case for funding research into community-based creative arts practices in Western Sydney, https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1996101/Media,_Art_and_Stories_Compressed.pdf
    Conference Presentations | 2023
    Baú V, 2023, 'Communicative Ecologies of Displaced Youth. ‘Connecting’, ‘receiving’ and ‘sharing’ in refugee camps', presented at IAMCR Conference, Lyon, France, 09 July 2023 - 13 July 2023
    Reports | 2023
    Shakespeare M; Pham L; Chitranshi B; McMahon T; Khorana S; Magee L; Baú V, 2023, Foundations for Belonging 2023: Exploring refugees’ understanding and engagement with First Nations issues and histories, SSI and Western Sydney University, Sydney, https://www.ssi.org.au/ssi-insight/foundations-for-belonging-2023/
    Reports | 2021
    Baú V; Georgeou N; Kreemers D, 2021, Media, Art and Stories. Enabling communities’ creative expression in Sydney’s West, University of New South Wales, Sydney, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/z4zq-jx31
    Reports | 2021
    Baú V, 2021, Re-thinking the Representation of Refugee Children and Adolescents in the Media. Views from Italy’s frontline, https://openmigration.org/en/analyses/re-thinking-the-representation-of-refugee-children-and-adolescents-in-the-media-views-from-italys-frontline/
    Reports | 2020
    Baú V; Burnside M; Cook S; Bartlett A; Ridley K, 2020, Exploring the Meaning of Impact in Development Research, Institute for Global Development, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/SHT8-9350, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:73352/bin6364ef71-bd2b-425b-8276-140ae0661275?view=true&xy=01
    Reports | 2020
    Baú V, 2020, Communicating with Unaccompanied Foreign Minors: How UN agencies engage with newly arrived migrant and refugee children in Italy, RESPOND Migration project, 2020/71, http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4247770, https://respondmigration.com/wp-blog/communicating-with-unaccompanied-foreign-minors-un-agencies-italy
    Other | 2020
    Baú V, 2020, Covid-19 and Conflict: communicating for peace during a global health crisis, , https://www.gsdmagazine.org/covid-19-and-conflict-communicating-for-peace-during-a-global-health-crisis/
    Reports | 2019
    Baú V; Joshi B, 2019, Leading Inclusive Development using Media and Communication, https://rdinetwork.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2019-C4D-Roundtable-report-1.pdf
    Conference Presentations | 2019
    Baú V, 2019, 'Indymedia: time to take stock. Lessons from the IMC experience of Australia', presented at IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) Conference, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, 07 Jul-11 Jul 2019
    Conference Presentations | 2019
    Baú V, 2019, 'Refugee Children and Adolescents in the Italian Media. Reflections on narrative and representation', presented at The Migration Conference, University of Bari, Italy, 18 Jun-20 Jun 2019
    Other | 2018
    Baú V, 2018, Communicating with Communities during Conflict. “Mediated” avenues to inform those in needs, , https://www.peaceinsight.org/blog/2018/04/communicating-communities-during-conflict/
    Reports | 2017
    Baú V; Brimacombe T, 2017, Media Approaches to Communicating for Development, UNSW Australia, Sydney, https://rdinetwork.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/C4D-Rountable-Proceedings.pdf
    Conference Presentations | 2017
    Baú V, 2017, 'Radio, Conflict and Land Grabbing in Sierra Leone. Communicating rights and preventing violence through drama', presented at IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) Conference, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, 16 July 2017 - 20 July 2017
    Conference Presentations | 2016
    Baú V, 2016, 'Breaking the Conflict Cycle Working with Young African Diasporas in Sydney? Redressing assumptions and reassessing the use of participatory photography', presented at Diasporas in Action, University of Melbourne, Australia, 26 September 2016 - 27 September 2016
    Conference Presentations | 2016
    Baú V, 2016, 'Communicating for Peace through Art - Using art and communication for development to work with internally-displaced adolescents in Mindanao', presented at IPRA (International Peace Research Association) Conference, University of Freetown, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 27 November 2016 - 01 December 2016
    Other | 2016
    Baú V, 2016, Using Participatory Photography for Peace. A short guide for practitioners, Search for Common Ground, Washington DC, , http://www.dmeforpeace.org/resource/using-participatory-photography-for-peace-a-short-guide-for-practitioners/
    Reports | 2015
    Baú V; Brimacombe T, 2015, Communication for Development Approaches in the Australian NGO Sector and Academia, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, https://rdinetwork.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2015-C4D-Roundtable-Report.pdf
    Conference Presentations | 2015
    Baú V, 2015, 'Citizen Engagement in Peacebuilding. A communication for development approach to rebuilding peace from the bottom up', presented at IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) Conference, University of Québec, Montreal, Canada, 12 July 2015 - 16 July 2015
    Conference Presentations | 2015
    Baú V, 2015, 'Gender and Peacebuilding. A communication for development approach to promote an equal and inclusive process', presented at ACFID (Australia Council for International Development) University Network Conference, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, 04 June 2015 - 05 June 2015
    Other | 2015
    Baú V, 2015, Gender and Peace after 2015… and why communication should be more than a cross cutting approach, World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), Toronto, , http://cdn.agilitycms.com/wacc-global/Images/Galleries/RESOURCES/MD/2015-2/2-2015.4.Gender-and-peace-after-2015.pdf
    Conference Presentations | 2014
    Baú V, 2014, 'Communication for Development in Peacebuilding. Identifying research directions for an emerging paradigm', presented at Ørecomm Conference, Malmo, Sweden, 17 September 2014 - 20 September 2014
    Conference Presentations | 2014
    Baú V, 2014, 'Creating Dialogue through Images: participatory photography for peace', presented at IPRA (International Peace Research Association) Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 10 August 2014 - 14 August 2014
    Other | 2014
    Baú V, 2014, Evaluating the Impact of Participatory Media for Conflict Transformation, Search for Common Ground, Washington DC, , http://www.dmeforpeace.org/resource/evaluating-the-impact-of-participatory-media-for-conflict-transformation/
    Other | 2014
    Baú V, 2014, Transforming Conflict into Peace, Oxford University Press, Oxford, , http://blog.oup.com/2014/08/social-change-peace
    Conference Presentations | 2013
    Baú V, 2013, 'A new Role for Communication for Social Change in Conflict Transformation. Using participatory video to restore peace', presented at IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research), Dublin, Ireland, 25 June 2013 - 29 June 2013
    Conference Presentations | 2013
    Baú V, 2013, 'Video Technologies and Participatory Approaches for Sustainable Peace. Tackling conflict through social change communication', presented at ICA (International Communication Association) Conference, London, UK, 17 June 2013 - 21 June 2013
    Other | 2013
    Baú V, 2013, Five Years on: identity and Kenya's post-election violence, , http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/valentina-ba%C3%BA/five-years-on-identity-and-kenyas-post-election-violence
    Other | 2013
    Baú V, 2013, My ICA2013. Navigating the London conference in a quest for Development Communication…and beyond, Malmö University, Malmö, , https://glocaltimes.mah.se/index.php/gt/article/view/212/211
    Other | 2013
    Baú V, 2013, Peace Initiatives on the Sotik/Borabu border in Kenya, , https://www.peaceinsight.org/blog/2013/01/peacebuilding-south-rift-valley-kenya/
    Conference Presentations | 2013
    Harris, U. ; Baú V, 2013, 'Participatory Media Workshop', presented at ACFID (Australia Council for International Development) University Network Conference, Sydney, Australia, 21 November 2013 - 22 November 2013
    Conference Presentations | 2012
    Baú V, 2012, 'Communities and Media in the Aftermath of Conflict - Participatory productions for reconciliation and peace', presented at Cultivating Peace Conference, Armidale, Australia, 17 May 2012 - 19 May 2013
    Conference Presentations | 2010
    Baú V, 2010, 'Mourning and Healing through the Media: participatory productions in post-conflict settings', presented at Panic and Mourning - Graduate Conference in Culture Studies, Lisbon, Portugal, 28 October 2010 - 29 October 2010
    Conference Presentations | 2009
    Baú V, 2009, 'Shaping the Content – A critical evaluation of the role of media relations and its function in liberal democratic societies', presented at Southern Africa Communication Association (SACOMM) Conference, 16 September 2009 - 18 September 2009
    Other | 2009
    Baú V, 2009, Media relations and democracy - An analysis of communication through media relations practice and its role in liberal democratic societies, Civicus, South Africa, , http://www.civicus.org/media/Media-Relations-and-Democracy.pdf

- 2021 ARC DECRA Fellowship

- 2020 IPRA Peace Research Grant

2018: undertaken a five-month Visiting Senior Research Fellowship at UNICEF Innocenti Office of Research in Florence, Italy

2012: selected for fully funded participation in the ‘Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation’ Winter School at Queensland University of Technology in Australia

2011: recipient of the Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship for PhD programme in Australia

2010: selected for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Fellowship for international cooperation and development in Angola

2006: selected for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs & CRUI Foundation Apprenticeship Programme for international cooperation and development in Mozambique

Board of Directors Member of Great Lakes Agency for Peace and Development International (GLAPD Int.), Sydney

Member of the Development Studies Association of Australia (DSAA)

Convenor of DSAA Creative Approaches and Practices in Development Studies Research Group

Member of Waverley Council Multicultural Advisory Committee

Member of UNSW Forced Migration Research Network

Member of Western Sydney University Young & Resilient Research Centre

Member of Western Sydney University Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI)

Member of the Hub for the Study of Hybrid Communication in Peacebuilding (HCPB)

Member of the International Association for Media & Communication Research (IAMCR)