Author: Antonia Liguori

New publication: Editorial: Towards 2030: Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education

Delighted to have published our editorial and have worked with fantastic colleagues and dear friends (Philippa Rappoport, Smithsonian Institution, US; Antonella Poce, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Italy; Matthew Rabagliati, UK National Commission for UNESCO) on this very important Research Topic published by Frontiers, that addresses the fourth Sustainable Development Goal, which is to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

This is the beginning of our editorial: Ambitious targets, as defined in the fourth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) on “quality education” (WEF, 2016), are essential to stimulate innovative research around complex systems and also to extend and amplify the debate well beyond the academic community. Yet to achieve those targets inclusive language within policy and practice play a critical role (Kennett, 2021), in particular when considering communication as a tool to support democratic participation and knowledge exchange beyond institutionalized borders.

You can download and read the article via this link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1328002/full

Wellbeing, Heritage and Higher Education Learning

For the European Open and Digital Learning Week organised by EDEN DLE, I was invited to deliver a talk as part of an exciting panel discussion (on Monday the 6th of November at 3pm CET) facilitated by Prof. Antonella Poce, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Italy.

The panel explores how we promote wellbeing within the university context and what role could the use of technology and heritage play. The session, through the participation of seven experts from different European and non-European institutions, aims to investigate research experiences in the field of promoting and evaluating wellbeing in formal Higher Education contexts, especially through the use of heritage and technology as educational tools.

The title of my presentation is: Digital Storytelling with museum objects: exploring the benefits of co-creation within diverse learning communities.

If you want to join us, please, register via this link.

What Digital Storytelling Means to the New Generation of Researchers

Our latest Open Access publication is inspired by the panel we delivered at the International Digital Storytelling Conference in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore areas, US, in June 2023.

What Digital Storytelling Means to the New Generation of Researchers

Please, read the abstract below.

A new, hybrid way of conceiving Digital Storytelling (DS) in applied research is presented here as an essential trigger to challenge, expand, and eventually re-frame the way in which DS is currently codified. The three methodological perspectives described in this paper share a common understanding of practice-as-research. They position themselves within three distinct disciplines—illustration, animation, and the creative arts in education—but have a strong commitment to interdisciplinarity. Each of them is trying to respond to a specific cultural and personal issue (e.g., sense of identity, mental health, attainment within competitive environments, etc.) and also serves as a prompt to reflect on a potential new aspect of DS as research, linked to the how, the what, and the why of these multiple and complementary applications. The intention of this paper is not to propose one alternative way of operating, but to inspire other researchers wanting to apply this approach in their work to constantly challenge any pre-conceived form and process, while prioritizing the democratization of knowledge production and informing their research process with co-design and participatory principles. The take-away message from these three case studies is that DS will be, in fact, embraced by the new generations of researchers as a sustainable practice all the more, as its many disruptions will generate spaces for co-creation and self-representation to emerge, and will stimulate everyone involved in the research process to challenge their own way of thinking and to go beyond what was codified by others and by their own practice too.

You can read the full paper via this link: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/9/485

Please, cite as: Liguori A, Sung KJ, McLaughlin L, Stuttle J. What Digital Storytelling Means to the New Generation of Researchers. Social Sciences. 2023; 12(9):485. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090485

New publication: Co-designing a Digital Storytelling Toolkit to Improve Youth Mental Wellbeing

Grateful and delighted to have contributed a chapter on co-designing a digital storytelling toolkit for personal and collective wellbeing to this very interesting new volume on museum education edited by Prof Antonella Poce (Università di Roma Tor Vergata).

Please, read the abstract below.

Social interaction between peers is an essential factor in the development of an inclusive practice within formal and non-formal Education, aiming at increasing individual and collective well-being. Starting from this premise, Digital Storytelling was identified as the core methodology of this research, considering the key values of its original model and its flexibility as a participatory practice that enhances creativity and collaboration in a context in which mutual learning and peer support are prioritised. Considering the ongoing global challenge of funding mental health services, there is fertile ground for innovation, especially in the area of creative, online approaches to mental health literacy and healthy relationships among young people.
This paper explores the potential of applying participatory approaches, co-design techniques and digital storytelling as mixed methods to support youth mental well-being.

Please, cite as: Liguori, A., Co-designing a Digital Storytelling Toolkit to Improve Youth Mental Wellbeing, in Poce, A. (ed) Empirical Studies in Museum Education 3, E.S.I. – Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, pp.143-160, ISBN: 978-88-495-5277-5.