“The benefits of the story-telling/story-listening loop within participatory research” – online the video recording of the seminar in Wellington

The University of Otago, New Zealand, just published on their YouTube channel the video recording of one of the seminars I gave during my visit in April.

Seminar hosted by the University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand, April 2024

You can read the abstract of the presentation here:

The benefits of the story-telling/story-listening loop within participatory research

Participatory storytelling is an enriching and powerful research approach that enables the researcher and the participant to shift power dynamics and establish new ways of working to achieve (together!) more meaningful and long-lasting results. Storytelling is an effective way for people to connect, share knowledge, and generate change. Even more when the story-telling/story-listening loop is prioritised during this creative process. As our world becomes more diverse, it is crucial for academia and cultural institutions to promote engagement with different perspectives. Stories have a unique power to build empathy, trust, and understanding among communities. However, it is important to recognise that there isn’t just one truth or perspective. Like Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says, “relying on a single story can risk a critical misunderstanding”.

In this seminar, we’ll explore the concept of co-created “Story Work” and how it involves collaborating to create stories that reflect diverse experiences and truths. We’ll also look at how storytelling can be used in research to foster engagement and inform practice and policy.

This seminar aims to address these questions:

How can digital storytelling be adapted globally while staying true to local values?

Is collaborative storytelling a solution to exclusion and marginalisation?

How do we differentiate between different storytelling practices while maintaining their ethos and core principles?