Pondering participatory educational environments
The launch of the #everynamecounts indexing tool — our contribution to Arolsen Archives mission to build a digital monument to those persecuted by the Nazi regime — got us thinking about digital activism.
As we see from the participation of more than 90,000 volunteers globally who give their time, energy, and empathy to the #everynamecounts project, events of historical importance can be brought to the public consciousness in innovative ways.
This article takes a look at different educational, volunteer-driven, or awareness-raising projects that play with digital technologies to bring the user into the heart of a subject or a story.
What about you? Have you been inspired by or involved with a digital education tool? Let us know in the comments!
Plastic in the Air
The ‘Plastic in the Air’ arts experiment by Pentagram is a wicked example of using digital design to illustrate environmental harms that can be hard to grasp, such as the topic of airborne plastic pollution.
The interface invites the user to take standard actions, like ‘redecorating their home’ or ‘applying makeup.’ When the user clicks to carry out the action, the corresponding plastic pollution is launched into the air. Keep an eye out for the UI function that doesn’t do what it says on the tin!
Link: https://artsexperiments.withgoogle.com/plasticair/
The Travelling Cloud museum
The Travelling Cloud museum (https://www.hartisland.net/) draws attention to the historical significance of Hart Island, located near the Bronx in New York. It’s a burial ground that has historically been used to bury victims of disease epidemics, such as the AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s.
Artist Melinda Hunt launched the non-profit ‘Hart Island project’ to help people to trace those who might have been buried here during a time of personal or societal hardship. Today, the map displays nearly 69,000 profiles, to which users can add stories, photos, epitaphs, songs and videos, to repeal the often anonymous conditions of their burial.
The on-site experience then uses a mixture of GPS navigation and AR to guide users to individual graves, and instruct them about the person whose life ended on this unusual island.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_Island and the projects’ site. Link: https://www.hartisland.net/
The Quipu project: Justice for Peruvian victims of forced sterilisation
Digital environments are being used to great effect to shine a light on injustice, and allow victims of persecution to tell their stories. In the 1990’s, the Peruvian government ran a controversial family planning programme- in effect forcing people from indigenous, rural communities to undergo sterilisations. This kind of injustice against marginalised or digitally excluded groups has found a powerful opponent in digital technology. A team of academics & researchers have created an oral history collection tool [based on a simple telephone number], which built a body of evidence from impacted women. The resulting interactive documentary allows global users to witness this atrocity, and demand justice for the victims.
Link: https://interactive.quipu-project.com/#/en/quipu/intro
Anyone’s Child Mexico
Anyone’s Child is a global advocacy group raising awareness of the danger and negative impacts caused by the Global War on Drugs. It’s spearheaded by families who have lost relatives to the Drug War, and aims to propose alternatives to the current prohibition-based global model.
The interactive documentary ‘Anyone’s Child: Mexico’ tells the story of the serious impact caused by the War on Drugs, in Mexico, where military and legal enforcement battles with drug traffickers for control of routes and supply, causing widespread violence and misery.
The testimonies collected by impacted families compel the user to consider the effects of the global trade- and of decades of failed attempts to curb it.
Jewish Museum Berlin: Violence against Jewish people in Germany, 1930–1938
The Jewish Museum in Berlin partnered with the Urban Complexity Lab at Potsdam University to develop this visualisation of violence towards the Jewish population in Germany in the 1930’s. Users can interact with the data to better understand the climate of hostility being stoked by the National Socialist party at the time. Users can also submit proof of violent incidents to the historians to continue to build up the data.
Link: https://www.jmberlin.de/topographie-gewalt/#/en/vis
They call me Asylum Seeker: From “Queer in a time of forced migration” by Ado Ato pictures
One of a three-part series focusing on forced migration of LGBTQ+ people from the Middle East, ‘They call me asylum seeker’ follows four LGBTQ people from the Egyptian Revolution in 2011 to the migrant and refugee “crisis” in Europe today. The interactive web animation allows users to move through the story at their own pace.
Take a look at this interview for more information on the compelling projects (and to exhibit the documentary somewhere, getting these important stories to new audiences).
Link: https://docubase.mit.edu/project/they-call-me-asylum-seeker/
Closing thoughts
We’re excited and humbled to have been part of the #everynamecounts project, and highly recommend that you take a look at the site, user forums, and participate in building this digital monument to victims of one of Europe’s darkest historical periods.
Over the coming years, we expect to see more and more need to use digital environments to bring users right into the heart of individual stories, collective memories, and movements for justice.
Digital worlds allow us to show the macro right alongside the micro; and to participate in data collection or awareness-raising activities, Interactive digital environments also present massive opportunities in schools, giving us the power to tap into empathy and interactivity, and create accessible, stimulating learning environments for young people.
We all know digital spaces can stoke division. But at Diesdas we believe that mindful use of digital tooling can result in a better society. If you have a topic that you think would benefit from living on the internet for wider access and awareness, reach out- We’d love to hear your story.
If you work at an NGO or social enterprise that sees an opportunity for crowd-sourcing digital participation, we are all ears.
Diesdas.digital is a company for design, strategy and code in Berlin, featuring a multidisciplinary team of designers, developers and strategists. We create tailor-made digital solutions with an agile mindset and a smile on our faces. Let’s work together!
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