Exploring the co-production of digital storytelling for lay knowledge exchange within and between flood risk communities: the case of the River Severn, UK

¹ University of the West of England, Bristol, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, UK BS16 1YQ
² Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwick Coventry, UK CV4 7HS

^a Corresponding author: Andrew4.Holmes@uwe.ac.uk

Abstract

This paper evaluates the potential role of co-produced digital storytelling as a medium of linking flood memories and lay knowledge exchange around flood preparedness for resilience within flood risk communities. The objectives of the described action focus on both process andd output - to capture memory of flood events, and to share critical reflection on, and adaptive learning from, flood experiences within and between communities. Very specific pieces of resilience stories on preparedness were co-produced into digital stories (audio and images) working with individuals and small clusters of people. In the development process, stories were shared within the communities who created them, and within new communities. At all community events, the experience of sharing the stories was observed and evaluated using participant and facilitator questionnaires and independent observation. When shared in community events, the value of the digital media, nature of the story construction, the local or transferable nature of messages, and emotional weight given to the story were all appraised. The stories stimulated new discussions within different community groups and in multi-stakeholder meetings; conversations generated by the same digital story were found to differ depending on the setting. Listeners had high degrees of empathy with the stories gaining insights around “mobilising community#x201D; and “developing emotional resilience”. The paper explores issues of engagement in order to produce a participatory media -demonstrating the process and tensions of exchanging knowledge, and how the cultural practice of digital storytelling can jump the divide to policymaking and function as a successful way of engaging a wider public at flood risk.