Lived Experience Storytelling Method Hackathon
People’s Voice Media convened a Lived Experience Storytelling Method Hackathon in May 2024, as part of their 6th Annual Community Reporter Conference. With support from NCRM's Innovation Fora funding, this event brought together a group of 56 experts to explore the question "How can we make lived experience storytelling practice more accessible and inclusive?"
The event focused specifically on how storytelling could be accessible for people who do not use spoken word, and inclusive for people who are neurodivergent or actively anti-racist. Experts included people with lived experience of some of the issues being discussed, researchers, creative practitioners and storytellers, public engagement professionals, evaluators and workers in the third and public sectors.
People's Voice Media organised the event after recognising that there has been a recent increase in interest in working with lived experience stories as data, and an increased openness to co-production techniques.
A hackathon was chosen because the format enables people to come together to collaborate intensively on solving problems, creating innovative solutions, or developing new ideas. Hackathons foster creativity, experimentation and rapid development of ideas.
People's Voice Media published a learning report and a video following the event.
Outputs
Learning report
The learning report synthesises the results of the hackathon and is structured to highlight key challenges, learnings and practical ideas for equitable practice in lived experience storytelling. The publication covers barriers to storytelling, inclusivity and neurodivergence, anti-racism and recommendations for working in equitable ways.
Video
The video report features footage of the hackathon and interviews with attendees, who discuss their experiences of the day and the things they took away from it. The video is available to watch below.