Inspiring workshop on Story Mapping: 'The craft of telling a story'

The Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology & AI and the Geodienst joined forces to organize an ‘inspiring’ workshop on Story Mapping in the House of Connections, which was attended by 15 researchers from the University of Groningen. The goal of the gathering, which took place on 17 November, was to bring research into the spotlight by using Story Mapping techniques.

Led by Peter Merx & Rick Roodbergen from the GeoDienst (GDBC) and Alice Klamer from the Jantina Tammes School the workshop showcased the power of Story Maps, a collection of online maps and media carefully curated, contextualized, and supplemented with supporting information to become a self-contained resource. It integrates maps, text, photos, and videos, providing functionality such as swiping, pop-ups, and time sliders that allow users to explore the content.

Some participants of the workshop did not think Story Mapping would suit their research, but the opposite turned out to be true. As it turns out, Story Mapping is not just about maps; it's the craft of telling a story. Even participants with seemingly no connection to mapping, such as Carlotta Oesterling, a PhD in Clinical Psychology, discovered the workshop's value. Within 2.5 hours, Oesterling created a Story Map centered around the topic “Reconnecting through Intimacy”.

Other more experienced participants gained new insights and worked on their mapping skills, such as Julia Munuera, a PhD in Cultural Geography. ‘I came to master the process of transforming research into a media product. We research how physical barriers create exclusion for less-abled persons and I hope to create a Story Map which can create awareness about this topic.’ Eventually, Munuera managed to make the Story Map “This abled City”.

According to the participants, it was ‘very inspiring’ to work together and translate their research into a digital product which can be shared with the world. After the workshop the researchers had a chat, a laugh, and a drink and concluded that ‘the Jantina Tammes School plus Geodienst equals 15 happy participants’. 

The next Story Mapping course from Jantina Tammes School and the Geodienst will be held on the 16th of February in the House of Connections from 12:45 to 17:30. Interested? Please contact geodienst@rug.nl for more information or early bird sign up. More information about Story Mapping can be found here .