Today we had our last project meeting for Eurospectives 2.0. 

The project started in 2018 bringing together different partners from Greece, Spain, Germany, Denmark and the UK to explore ways to use Digital Storytelling in non-formal and formal education. Activists, community facilitators, teachers and educators, creative practitioners and NGO’s, worked together testing out different methods, approaches and digital tools to produce a new curriculum with Digital Storytelling as its main focus. 

At the start of this project the world was quite a different place. With the onslaught of Covid 19 we found that we had to rely on digital tools to ensure that we were able to continue to co-create and collaborate, and with some adaptations we succeeded. Also, with the UK leaving the EU, collaboration with our European partners was even more important, making the project even more crucial and relevant.

The curriculum covers, Storytelling for Wellbeing, Collective Storytelling, Storytelling for Teachers and Storytelling for Activists. We hope that this curriculum will be a guide for facilitators, teachers and trainers to champion Digital Storytelling and to encourage people to find ways to tell their own stories.

Over this last year people’s well-being has been tested and many people are suffering. With countries clamping down on democratic rights it is crucial that citizens are able to discover ways to become resolute and actively participate in positive change from the ground up. 

If ever there has been a time to use digital storytelling to create positive social change, then the time is now, and here we have a useful tool that can support people to become storytellers for positive change.

Kath Peters – PVM’s Project lead for Eurospectives 2.0

The Emerging Futures project was a collaboration between People’s Voice Media and Camerados and gathered over 65 stories of people’s experiences of the pandemic from across the UK. The project was funded by the Emerging Futures Fund, which was set up by The National Lottery to invest in the creativity of civil society and help amplify the voices of communities through stories, narratives, and public imagination projects.

Working with the existing Camerados involved in the #SpoonRoom (a virtual “public living room” where strangers support each other), stories of people’s everyday experiences were gathered – exploring what matters in people’s world and what life looks like from their perspective. The findings informed a set of 5 insight reports, highlighting key themes which had emerged from people’s stories. These themes were then explored throughout an online chat show series – A #BitOfCompany Chat – which provided a platform for people to share and discuss experiences of the pandemic.

Isolation & connecting during the pandemic: ‘Connection really is magic.’

As you might expect with stories from the pandemic, the themes of isolation and connection came up time and again. Between shielding, restrictions on household mixing and travel, and plain old ‘social distancing’ (we prefer the term physical distancing!), making connections with people since COVID-19 appeared in our lives has been increasingly difficult.

The stories on isolation and connection gathered during the project have taught us a few things:

• Although not the same for everyone, isolation has had a negative effect on the mental health of many.
• We should try to build relationships before people need you and you need them.
• While online spaces aren’t a replacement for face-to-face, for most they are better than the alternative of being alone and so technology needs to be accessible.
• The rise in online events has actually improved accessibility for some folk and this shouldn’t be lost post-pandemic.
• We should do our best to keep these relationships going post-pandemic.

Here are some actions that emerged from the project to help boost human connection:

1. Get sending some letters – become a pen pal or simply post little notes on your neighbor’s doors to spark a conversation.
2. Create spaces where folk feel able to just be themselves – that could be a Spoon Room, Public Living Room, street sing-a-long or taking over the park for a good old dance!
3. Look at where technology can help create connections – it could be street WhatsApp groups or websites like nextdoor.com.

Grief, loss & reflection during COVID-19: ‘The Great Pause’

The pandemic has paused time for many of us, with some feeling that this is a positive and others a negative.

The stories on loss, grief and pause that folk have shared with us have revealed a few things that give us renewed perspective on what loss is and how we live with it in our lives:

• Loss and grief relate to many more things than bereavement. Loss is individual and personal.
• Many losses cannot be reclaimed and will have lasting impact.
• Pausing has given folk time to re-evaluate many things, encouraging people to be more human again.
• We should normalise talking to others when out and about on these types of topics and have conversations with others in common spaces.

Here’s what we can do to get alongside folk in the ‘great pause’ and beyond:

1. Allow more human behavior in meetings – it doesn’t always have to be serious or straight down to business.
2. Set-up a street library in your neighborhood – or just simply say hello to folk when you’re out and about.
3. Create a bit of cheer wherever you are – organise a silent disco, litter pick or do some street gardening.

Technology and the pandemic: ‘People share a lot more on Zoom.’

From the folk we’ve spoken to over the past few months, one thing has been abundantly clear: our relationship with technology throughout the pandemic is complicated to say the least.

The stories have shown us that our already complicated relationship with technology has become even more complex during COVID-19 as our reliance on it has increased:

• Digital connectivity has really been pushed forwards, actually improving accessibility and inclusion for many. We should embrace this.
• However, we need better boundaries to prevent technology becoming an intrusion into our home lives, and it can’t always be relied on to do everything we can do in the offline world.
• Digital isn’t always to answer and isn’t always good for everyone – issues like digital inclusion still need to be addressed so that access to technology and the Internet is fair.
• Perhaps a pause is needed for us to assess how we are using tech use so that balances can be struck.

Here’s what we can do to have a better relationship with technology:

1. Have a bit more fun, silliness and chit chat in online meetings – make sure you are creating a space for this to happen.
2. Check in on people to see if home working is working for them – taking time to have these conversations makes it easier for people to chat about things that might not be so great that they would otherwise not have shared.
3. Find other ways to connect with people who aren’t online – pick-up the phone, send a text, or knock on their door.

Structural inequalities highlighted by the pandemic: ‘I’m really worried about the division.’

Inequalities existed before the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to exist after it (although we hope to do something about that). However, what the pandemic has done is throw these inequalities into sharp relief for all to see, whether that’s racism, ableism, stigmas around homelessness or any other kind of inequality you can think of.

Our conversations with our Camerados have shown us a lot about inequalities:

• The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities in society. However, it has also shown that some inequalities could be easier to overcome than the system would have us believe.
• We should create more opportunities for stories and voices to be heard in forums like the A #BitOfCompany Chat broadcasts.
• Trust takes time to build and space must be made for it to do so – when trust is there, real conversations can take place that can lead to change.

Here’s what we can do to start breaking down structural inequalities right now:

1. Chat with folk on the street – take genuine interest in people, find out more about them and mix with people who don’t look like you.
2. Call out injustice when you see it and also talk to others about these issues and be opening to learning from others with different perspectives than yours.
3. Share A #BitOfCompany Chat episodes 9 and 10 broadcasts and get more people talking about these issues.

Creativity, the outdoors, and COVID-19: ‘There’s always a way, isn’t there?’

One of the themes to emerge from the stories is the way in which folk took responsibility for their own wellness and wellbeing, particularly during the first national lockdowns across the UK back in March 2020.

The stories have taught us a thing or two about wellness and how creativity and outdoor spaces are key to it:

• People are using creativity to make events out of everyday things. Creativity needs to be seen and valued from the beginning, not added on to at the end of anything as a nice added extra.
• Encourage play, not just in children, as adults it’s viewed as a waste of time.
• We should re-imagine how we use our outdoor spaces, both private and public, and make sure they are open to everyone.
• Technology enables creativity, but we need to balance our use of it so it doesn’t become another negative.

Here’s what we can do to get the most out of being creative and embracing the great outdoors:

1. Create space in your day to be creative in whatever you like – even if it is just 10 minutes, it can make a difference to how you are feeling.
2. Walk – Go on a ‘Midday Meander’, you don’t need a purpose to go on a walk and you might find by doing so you can create connections with other folk you pass on the way.
3. Share your creativity and interests with others – you could make a playlist and share it with friends, family and folk you work with.

Late last year we started working with Barnsley Museums to explore how Community Reporting and lived experience storytelling can support their evaluation activities, and contribute to their on-going learning and development. We wrapped-up the initial part of this work – and here is what we learned!

The group felt that the strengths of using Community Reporting as an evaluation tool are:

• it gave a platform to participants to voice their perspectives
• it gives detailed insights into people’s experiences
• it can feel less pressured/formal than other approaches to evaluation
• it can be tailored to the needs of a project

When reflecting on the weaknesses, the group felt that Community Reporting faced challenges such as:

• people finding the time to dedicate to it properly and resourcing from the organisation
• some people may be missed if they don’t feel comfortable with being filmed/recorded

However, despite some challenges in implementing the methodology, the opportunities it provides far outweighed them. For example, it provides a more engaging way of presenting learnings and information. It also allows organisations to better respond to community needs by listening to them directly. More so, it gathers meaningful evidence of impact that other methods do not. And finally, Community Reporting provides a process for understanding qualitative evaluation which helps tackle bias.

So, with all those opportunities and positives to using Community Reporting as a tool for learning, evaluation and impact evidencing, we wish our partners at Barnsley Musuems all the best as they embed it into their work!

We are looking for people to run local workshops to explore the ‘Future Of Lived Experience Storytelling’.

APPLY NOW

We want to commission 5 workshops that explore the topic of ‘The Future of Lived Experience Storytelling’ with different groups of people to be part of the 3^rd annual Institute of Community Reporters (ICR) Conference on the 2^ndJune 2021.

At the conference, we want to open-up a conversation about the future of lived experience storytelling and explore things such as:

• the role of lived experience in achieving social justice 
• how we and other organisations can work better with stories and the people who share them
• the types of spaces that are secure enough for authentic storytelling to take place.

Your workshop should respond to the above – or some of the above – in some way and contribute to this conversation. 

The content, location, style, who the workshop is for and pretty much the whole shape of the workshop is up to you, as long as it is in-keeping with the overall topic of the conference. 

Key Details

• Your workshop should take place between 11:30am and 3:30pm on the 2^ndJune 2021.
• Your workshop should be at least 1 hour long.
• The workshop leader needs to be available between 3:45pm and 5:00pm to join an online livestream to share with the world the key ideas/discussions that took place in the workshop.
• Your workshop should create an equitable space for people to be a part of the conference’s conversation. 
• Your workshop should ideally – and where safe – take place offline in a specific geographical location (this is not essential and back-up plans should be made in case it needs to move online).
• The fee for each workshop is £250.00 upon receipt of an invoice.
• Each workshop leader should send a little bit of feedback post-workshop to us (i.e.; who attended, what was discussed/learned, what worked well and what didn’t).

To apply to deliver a workshop, please use this online form

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rKlApPkA0tN0L5MTdf7ah3IggPTCe4yb8o_Pi6riGgQ/edit   to tell us about the workshop you would like to run. 

The form asks for: 

• Contact details of the organiser and social media details (if any)
• A short outline of your workshop and what topics you will be exploring 
• Where it will be held
• Who the workshop is for
• How you will ensure the space is inclusive and welcoming
• A short back-up plan in case COVID-19 means the workshop has to go online
• A short statement about how your workshop embeds our core values – https://peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk/about/ 

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 3rd May 2021. We will contact all applicants to let them know about our decisions by Friday 7th May 2021. For further information contact Kath at kath@peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk  #ICRCon2021

During the last couple of weeks in March, some of the PVM team took part in a training lab designed as part of Co-Engage, one of the Erasmus Plus projects we are a part of. The project aims to contribute to the development of co-creation skills, enabling citizens to become social innovators. Based on the exchange of experiences and learning through co-creation, the consortium’s method will bring in light know-how and competences, engaging citizens for innovation and creativity and, through this, creating bridges between diverse sectors and fields of activity.

Held online, the labs aimed to get us thinking about co-creation practices and how these could better engage citizens as social innovators. Hosted by German partners CRN and Future Fashion Forward, the labs took on the topic of textile waste in the fashion economy and had us work in groups on different scenarios that would encourage citizens to engage with this issue and work on finding solutions, such as a co-created social media campaign aimed at getting people to organise clothes swaps.

While it was a shame that we could not travel to Berlin for the training, as had originally been planned, it was great to see all of our partners and participants all together and working on some fascinating ideas.