Storycircle: Social and Digital Conditions for Narrative Exchange and Knowledge Production, 2011-2013

This is a mixed methods data collection.<br> <br> <i>Storycircle</i> was a project focusing on the social and digital conditions for narrative exchange and knowledge production, led by Goldsmiths, University of London, within the FIRM (Framework for Innovation and Research in MediaCityUK) research consortium funded by the EPSRC. Storycircle’s aim was to facilitate processes of narrative production and exchange, working with its FIRM research partners, Lancaster and Salford ThinkLab, to generate a narrative ecology in collaboration with local actors and stakeholders, that enhances understanding of the digital platforms, user interfaces and social processes through which creativity and knowledge exchange can be stimulated. The project's point of departure was the diverse narrative activity already taking place in the region where the research was conducted and the aim was to design projects collaboratively that met the needs of the partners. <br> <br> The background to the project aims and design were the following principles. Existing narrative research tells us that narrative is empowering, and that opportunities for narrative exchange are important ways of recognising people as citizens and as human beings; it also tells us that narratives connect people, and the exchange of narratives can connect people who would not otherwise be linked and so generate new insights and knowledge, to the benefit of those involved. Storycircle built on three specific themes and foci for narrative exchange that had emerged through Goldsmiths' pilot phase fieldwork in 2010 - 'stories of place'; 'citizen/local knowledge' and 'enthusiasms'. The project partners included a sixth-form college, a social enterprise, a community organisation, a school and a local tenants association. The data deposited at the UK Data Archive are from the first three of these collaborations; they comprise 33 semi-structured interviews and a survey of 889 sixth-form college students.<br> <br> Further information may be found on the <a href="http://storycircle.co.uk/" title="Storycircle">Storycircle</a> website and the Goldsmiths, University of London <a href="http://www.gold.ac.uk/media-communications/mediacity/" title="Storycircle project">Storycircle project</a> webpage.<br> <br>