The secretariat of the 2018 International Social and Behavior Change Communication Summit has published a new report filled with highlights from the weeklong event, lessons learned and food for thought for what a future Summit should look like.

The Summit, held in April in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, drew nearly 1,200 people from 429 organizations in 93 countries, all motivated by the idea that communication has the power to make a real difference in people’s lives. The huge turnout was nearly twice the size of the first Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2016.

“A week at the Summit was truly a crash course in the best our field has to offer,” the report states. “And that was just what filled the program. Much of the true learning and understanding came from conversations had in the hallways or during lunch, where people from around the world who may approach their work in very different ways came together to learn from one another.”

Organizers are already working to determine the site for a 2020 SBCC Summit.

The new report contains results from a participant study conducted after the Summit ended. Of the 288 people who responded, 95 percent said they gained knowledge or skills at the Summit and 94 percent said they expanded their professional network.

“Given the many seductive tools of persuasion available to us today (e.g. digital/social media), understanding whose voice is heard and who sets the agenda is more important and relevant than ever before,” reads a section of the report on insights gleaned from the event.

More highlights of the Summit can be found in both the Summit declaration and a special issue about the Summit published by The Journal of Development Communication.

The Summit was led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, UNICEF, Soul City Institute, BBC Media Action and The Communications Initiative.