“Ushahidi is a child of collaboration on the internet”
“Ushahidi”, which means “testimony” in Swahili, is a website set up by a collaboration of Kenyan citizen journalists during a time of crisis in Kenya, after the post-election fall-out at the beginning of 2008, to map incidents of violence and peace efforts throughout the country based on reports submitted via the web and mobile phones.
“Well Told Story combines the power of good stories with strategy, creativity, deep analysis and hard science, to design and produce communications that spur positive social changes that can be proved and measured.”
This example of “what works” showcases a debt relief project that is more than just a game of numbers; it is about ensuring dignity for the poor. Here, the delivery of basic services is enhanced as a South African municipality connects with a community in a personalised and supportive way.
This is the first in a five-part series on the environmental innovation of the Impumelelo multiple award-winning e’Thekwini Municipality in South Africa. Read more about the creative ways South Africans solve public problems every week from the Impumelelo Social Innovations Centre, the country’s repository for solutions that improve quality of life for the poor.
© e’Thekwini Municipality
Hong Kong is a city known for its impressive skyline and a buzzing urban scene. In Hong Kong, the incessant urban renewals happening around the city has changed and shaped the space in which people live in as well as the memories of those who live there.
In this vibrant city, a small group of art curators, designers and cultural researchers formed a research and curatorial collective on vernacular visual culture and “indigenous” creativity called Community Museum Project (CMP) in 2002. The “museum” in the title refers not to the hardware – physical building where objects are stored and exhibited – but to the methodology of museum. CMP uses “museum” as a method to visualise community values, indigenous knowledge and social relationships.
International development strategies attempt to deal with the most immediate and noticeable problems that communities face, but beneath these are a range of more complex social issues that are not spoken of and which, therefore, continue to cause conflict. Issues around citizenship or problems with a democratic process that is more divisive than inclusive are just two examples highlighted by the Theatre for Development Centre in Nigeria. Performance in the form of theatre or storytelling gives members of the community the opportunity to raise these deeper concerns.
CC - Image courtesy of Diane S Murphy from Flickr
whatworksblog 