Digital Storytelling Protocols

CAMP focuses on Climate Justice. Mapping the many strains of energy production throughout the Americas is not a new project. Storytelling from the frontlines of energy production and its effects on the environment is not a new project. Putting the maps and stories together in an accessible online space is the key and innovative combination that CAMP is committed to. Linking the human stories of first-hand knowledge of changing landscapes to the energy grids and their effects tells of the urgency of Climate Justice. Human rights. Right away. Climate Justice centers the human to link human rights and development to further “achieve a human-centered approach to safeguard the rights of the most vulnerable and share the burdens and benefits of climate change and its resolution equitably and fairly” (Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice).

After you read the suggestions below, consider sharing your story on the USA Map or Amazon Basin Map.

Why digital storytelling?

Everyone tells stories about themselves and their communities. Stories are powerful and offer ways for people to understand themselves and each other. Digital Storytelling, then, draws on digital technologies to capture sound, images, writings, and moving images to tell our stories multimodally – through multiple modes of communication. Finally, Digital Storytelling can be shared through expansive circulation networks that the Internet provides so that we can reach so many others. Digital Storytelling helps to build relationships between groups of peoples around the world. Digital Storytelling offers a creative and compassionate space to tell stories the ways we want to tell them…

Why ‘protocols’?

Considering this mapping & storytelling project focuses on peoples throughout the Americas, we found it integral to offer a formal set of guidelines that might call forward the many ways people experience their everyday lives. For Climate Justice activists and scholars, we also believe that this mapping & storytelling project continues to evolve among numerous social movements and disciplines and, therefore, creating Digital Storytelling Protocols might be capacious enough for distinct foci as well as broad intersections, and understandings of the role that storytelling plays.

Want to share your story?

Getting started! Digital Storytelling for CAMP can consist of photos, text, audio, video, and any combination of these. Your story should be created your way.

1 – Know your tech tools

  • Do you have a mobile phone? Internet? Wi-Fi? Can you record images, sound, and video? What apps do you have available to you on your phone?
  • Do you have a sound recorder? Microphone?
  • Do you have a camera? Photo camera? Video camera?
  • Do you have access to a computer to download your photos and video?
  • Do you have editing software? Do you know how to use it?
  • Digital Storytelling can be simple and complex; tell your story your way.

2 – Creating Your Digital Story
The web app we are using to collect stories is in beta form. Currently we can only accept the following types of media:

  • Text = 200 words.
  • Images = 1 photo.
  • Audio/Video = Paste your YouTube or Vimeo link (URL) into the text box.
  • Location = Type it in or click on LOCATE ME which will use your mobile device coordinates for map placement.

3 – Respond to one or more of these questions. Remember that the website can currently only accept 200 words and 1 picture with each submission.

  • Narrate your land. For example, what do you see right now? What has changed? Last month? Last year? Since you were born? How do you or your community acknowledge these changes? Record audio (and video) to describe your home. Upload to YouTube or Vimeo. Paste your link into the CAMP text box.
  • Who are you? Where are you from? Describe Climate Justice in your area. What’s being done to acknowledge climate change? Write something and include a pictures to show us.
  • What image best describes your environment, your home? Include a pictures and write a short description.
  • What is your experience with energy infrastructure like power plants, solar panels, pipelines or mines? How has your community’s energy landscape changed over your lifetime? Write down your thoughts and feelings or record a vide and share the link.
  • Narrate your experiences with Climate Justice or related movements. Record audio (and video) of your participation. Upload to YouTube or Vimeo. Paste your link into the CAMP text box.
  • And keep sharing your stories!

Have questions or suggestions about this page? Please contact Jamie Ann Lee at jalee2@email.arizona.edu