This document provides an overview of planning a storytelling project to engage a community. It discusses how storytelling can be used to bond communities, bridge differences, and transmit culture. Various storytelling methods and formats are described, including personal stories, group stories, print, audio, visual, and digital stories. The document also outlines exercises to practice storytelling techniques, including role playing a story circle, harvesting values from stories, and using stories to facilitate a community dialogue on an issue. Planning considerations are discussed like mapping community groups, capacities, and goals to design waves of engagement through various storytelling approaches.

1. Planning a Heart & Soul Storytelling Project An Overview April 6, 2009 Digital Explorations for Orton Family Foundation

3. Map Your Connection An Exercise in Storytelling

4. Why Storytelling? "There is no change greater than a community discovering what it cares about." Meg Wheatley "Stories of place do not simply mirror reality; they are subjective accounts of personal interaction with, and perceptions of, the environment, society and economy. It is these interactions and perceptions that indicate past and present sustainable or unsustainable relationships , and thus provide the basis and means for analysis of future sustainable directions of change . The many and diverse regional stories must be told and listened to before they can be weaved and transformed into a new regional story , and before a region can imagine a new and sustainable way into the future. Realising and celebrating a sense of place encourages active citizenship and builds social capital , which is essential for the sustainability of a region, and provides a secure foundation for approaching the future. It could also be a powerful vehicle for reconciliation , with differing groups realising that they are linked by the same sense of concern for and attachment to a region. " K. Longley, 2002, Stories for Sustainability, Sustainability Forum, Perth

5. What Can Stories & Storytelling Do for Us? Bonding & Bridging *Engaging community *Reconciling rifts *Creating sense of belonging Transmission of Culture *Lessons of the past *Realities of the present *Hopes for the future Refer also to Orton’s Document: Why Storytelling?

6. Bonding & Bridging Engaging the Community

7. Top Diagram from A Storytelling Model of Civic Engagement in a Multiethnic Urban Space Yong-Chan Kim http://tinyurl.com/c2mztu

8. The Story Spiral

9. Gathering Information: Community Values & How to Act on Them

10. Do the stories reveal: what we should let go of? what we should hold onto? what we should add? Asking good questions

11. Sense of Place Physical Built environment Natural environments Geography Climate Natural resources Non-physical Character History Cultural heritage Spirituality Heart & Soul

12. (Mapping of Community & Setting of H & Soul goals completed; Storytelling Options matched; Storytelling Capacity matched)

14. Challenges!

15. Outreach: Engaging the Full Community Locating & Engaging the Hubs Matching story type & scenario to least likely participants

16. Moving beyond the past

17. Clear & Precise Articulation of Values, Themes & Issues Language

18. Active Participation Is anyone listening? Volunteer Burn-out Who is helping? Vs.

19. Thorny Issues Original Photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattpettengill/2880947744/ Uncomfortable Disruptive Finding Common Ground

20. The Importance of an Inclusive Process From Glasgow’s Imagining the Future of the City http://www.demos.co.uk/themes/~community/view//pg/2 From a Workshop at Woods Hole http://www.greenmuseum.org/generic_content.php?ct_id=268

21. Map & Set Goals Consider Story Options: how they match community & goals Get Realistic about Resources & Capacity Plan Waves: Moving from bonding to harvesting to active civic participation The Four Phases

22. Hour Two: Story Options Scenario where & who & when Media matching type to goals, sharers & resources

23. Scenario See wiki pages on neighborhood events & story ideas

24. Storytelling Options Individual Alone “ My Story” One-on-One: “ My story/Her story” Story Circle: “ Our story/stories” WHO WHAT WHY HOW Personal Experience Perspective Insight To give story holder ownership To invite free-flow All media & forms P:Community Almanac Newspapers, bulletin boards,etc. Audio Interviews Digital Stories Written Stories P: All publishing outlets & Layering of Interaction Values harvest To connect/bond To draw story out To make it easy on story holder & Group perspective Contrasting views Common ground Values-to-themes To bond & bridge To focus on the telling To celebrate in the moment & take action Neighborhood City-wide Collaborative Stories P: In-the-moment Collected on maps Co-creation Events: Mosaic & Facilitated Dialogue Value/Theme/Issue Harvest Hybrid events w/data To embed the stories Within the community To celebrate, to bridge To lead to action Theater Murals & Publications Podcast Tours & Kiosks

26. Minnesota http://ww2.startribune.com/news/variety/voices/flash/index.shtml Vermont Young Writers Project http://youngwritersproject.org/

33. Multimedia Stories Voicethread ; Soundslide ; Collage ; Digital Stories; Hypertext

36. City-wide Story Circles

37. Using Stories in Facilitated Dialogue Events Meadowlark Institute

38. Hour Three: Trying it Out

39. Using role play, harvesting techniques and facilitated dialogue, we’ll explore storytelling as an effective means of bringing people together to share stories, to harvest values, and to thread them into dialogue about the future of the community. A. Story Circle Role Play : Victor Map and Story Hotspots Four participants (preferably four with little or no experience with story circles) will share 2-minute stories about a place on the map that they associate with stories. B. Value Harvest Exercise : What did you hear? Stickies and Wordle. C. Deepening the Harvest Exercise : Relationships, themes and Issues-- Clustering and Sunray charts D. Finding the Issue for a Facilitated Dialogue : Using a simple matrix , we’ll sort the issues, and select one to engage with in a short facilitated dialogue. Story Circles Plus

40. Harvesting Values

41. First Round:Stickie Notes & Wordle

42. Second Round: Grouping & Getting Specific

43. Third Round: Selecting an Issue & Having a Facilitated Dialogue

44. Sorting the Issues actionable disruptive urgent less pressing

45. HOUR FOUR: PLANNING

46. Mapping Informal & Formal Groups, Identities , Storytelling Capacity

47. Matching Map to Goals

48. Other Heart & Soul Approaches

49. Planning the Waves

51. Questions? Check the Envision Victor Storytelling Wiki http://envisionvictorstorytelling.pbwiki.com/ Or Contact Us at Digital Explorations : Barbara [email_address] Remy [email_address]