Exploring The Power Of Participatory Media Arts, Journalism And Oral History Storytelling
Society today faces numerous challenges that hinder the ability to thrive and adapt in an ever-changing world.
Issues such as social fragmentation, underrepresentation of marginalized voices, and the pressing impacts of climate change are pervasive across many regions.
For many northern Canadian communities, these challenges are further compounded by a lack of communication capacity and a lack of capability within arts and non-profit organizations.
There is a critical and growing need for northern arts, media and storytelling platformsthat enable individuals and organizations to connect, express themselves, and collaboratively address these challenges. Integrating creative leadership training, climate entrepreneurship, and storytelling, we can empower community members to become effective communicators and leaders.
This exciting new pilot program is based on previously tested and successful models over the course of a decade, such as Our People Our Climate, the Arviat Film Society, the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism, the OpenAI Researcher Access Program, Global Dignity Canada, the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Program, the University of Victoria Community-Based Research Lab and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) Creative Entrepreneurship and Masters of Arts in Creative Leadership programs.
The program also builds directly on work piloted with funding and support through the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse, Manitoba Arts Council, Manitoba Agriculture, the ArcticNet Strategy for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion from 2019-2024. With the goal of exploring subjects like climate entrepreneurship, storytelling and climate diplomacy through the arts, the program integrates lessons learned from several iterations of the Our People Our Climate project, seeded with funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
This participatory journalism and storytelling project works to build youth, community, and organizational capacity for effective communications, storytelling, and community building through the media arts.
It Is Important That Communities Have The Tools And Skills To Tell Their Own Stories.
Many northern organizations continue to struggle with post-pandemic recovery, have limited resources, an increasingly aging population, and insufficient pipelines for youth leadership development. The scarcity of effective communication, public relations, journalism, and storytelling skills inhibits the ability of many organizations to connect with their communities, share their narratives, advocate for their needs and to communicate their successes.
The primary objective of this project is to establish a multimedia Community Media Arts Platform that serves as a hub for storytelling, artistic expression, and dissemination of information on community participatory arts, climate entrepreneurship and environmental issues.
One of the project’s primary goals is to provide comprehensive training in creative leadership, climate entrepreneurship, and storytelling, equipping artists with the skills to become proactive agents of change. Incubating a Community of Practice and Care, we intend to promote mutual learning, shared responsibility, and a supportive environment for personal and collective growth.
Amplifying the voices of underrepresented groups is essential to ensure inclusivity and diversity within community narratives. Strengthening community cohesion by facilitating collaborative projects, promoting cultural exchange, and encouraging active participation in community life is also a fundamental goal of this initiative.
Youth will play a central role in producing and disseminating content, ensuring that they have the opportunity to take ownership of their narratives while also developing essential skills in leadership, critical thinking, and collaboration. The project will not only work to enhance the technical proficiency of participants but to also cultivate a deep understanding of the power of storytelling to create lasting community change.
In adapting these successful journalism and storytelling frameworks to northern contexts and embedding them within a Community of Practice and Care model, we will cultivate an inclusive and transformative youth and community-driven media arts initiative. Approaches will emphasize hands-on, peer-to-peer learning, shared responsibility, and supportive relationships, cultivating a network of individuals and organizations committed to personal growth, capacity building and community well-being.
The program will develop a media arts and training and skills development program that collaborates with established and experienced journalists, science communicators, public affairs professionals, and storytellers from multiple communities in Canada and the United States. This program will address communication gaps by working to build local and regional capacity in storytelling, journalism, and public relations.
