Digital Footprints & Social Impact

This month saw the 2024 edition of the Digital Footprints Conference at the University of Bristol. Showcasing multidisciplinary research and bringing together a multisector audience - academics, policy-makers, government representatives, industry - this year it focused on advancing the understanding of digital footprints for social impact.

I was invited to live illustrate a workshop on the ethical challenges in digital footprints reserach, a space for community dialogue to work out a path to social impact that minimises future harms and prioritises responsible research development.

Sustrans' EDI Spring Clean

In April I had the pleasure to visit long-term client Sustrans in their London hub to live illustrate their ‘EDI Spring Clean’. The EDI teams of the active travel charity gathered to discuss their personal values, how these were reflected in Sustrans’ own values, and the development of the ‘For Evryone Strategic Framework’. This event allowed the organisation to ‘reset’ ways of working for EDI groups and colleagues networks, and to inspire collective action around making it easier for everyone to walk, wheel and cycle.

GPs at the Deep End

GPs at the deep end is an initiative aiming to reduce health inequalities through providing peer support, advocacy, training & research opportunities to primary care clinicians working in disadvantaged areas. The ‘Deep End’ movement started in Scotland in 2009 and has since developed into a number of networks across the UK and further afield. A recent Bristol event gathered GPs and communities together to discuss the challenges within NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. These discussions were turned into a poster and exhibited at a network’s event.

Story Makers "rewilds" the curriculum

Story Makers is a research team based at Leeds Beckett University looking at supporting the holistic learning and wellbeing of children through creative art pedagogies. Using drama and storytelling, their projects explore how collective creativity can amplify youth voice using the practice of Drama Worldbuilding.

It was a pleasure to collaborate with Story Makers and bring their beautiful concepts to life through visual metaphors and playfulness. The imaginative freedom encouraged and celebrated by their pedagogy truly triggered my imagination! My illustrations & sketchnotes are visible throughout their website.

A New Crime of Ecocide

Earlier this month I was very pleased to be invited to live illustrate a to discuss the opportunities, challenges and implications that a new crime of ecocide presents for the UK’s domestic and foreign policies. This workshop was the first of its kind and brought together politician and activists actively engaged in the subject.

Ecocide means the mass damage and destruction of the environment. It is currently the subject of a global campaign spearheaded by Stop Ecocide International. Working closely with global networks of diplomats, lawyers, parliamentarians, and civil society organisations, this campaign is pushing for ecocide to be recognised as an international crime.

While only 13 countries currently recognise a distinct crime of ecocide under their domestic laws, national bills or proposals on ecocide are currently being discussed in over 10 national parliaments. In the UK, Camden became the first UK council in September 2023 to call for ecocide’s recognition as an international crime – and a Private Member’s Bill on ecocide (Ecocide Bill) was recently introduced in the House of Lords by Baroness Boycott.

Read more about this workshop in this article.

IRL Influencer

“Digital technology plays a big part in the everyday life of young people. It can have both a positive and a negative effect on them, with online activity being linked to poor mental health in children and adolescents. Despite that, there is very little guidance for mental health professionals on how to tackle this growing issue.”

These words are extracted from the Digital Chats website, a University of Bristol’s research team looking at supporting mental health practitioners to engage young people in acceptable, safe and useful conversations about their online activities and how these impact on their mental health.

In collaboration with the mental health charity Many Minds and the Oasis Academy Brightstowe, they presented a performance at the school to an audience of parents, young people, mental health practitioners, and policy-makers: IRL Influencer. This performance explored with young people their thoughts and feelings about how using the internet impacts their mental health.

I was very pleased to be invited to live illustrate the evening and very impressed by the student’s powerful performance.

Beyond Culture Box

Photos curtesy of Beyond Culture Box

I recently had the pleasure to collaborate with Beyond Culture Box, a research project that aims to create new and engaging creative resources for diverse audiences to stimulate public interest in dementia. The project uses creative practice to support people living with dementia, staff, and family supporters.

Part of this project is a touring exhibition based on the data from the research project and new artist commissions. I was honoured to produce a poster visualising the research findings. These were focused on relational care and social health. Find out more about the exhibition here.

Book Alert!

With inflation comes a lot of questions, starting with: what IS inflation? What is causing it? How is it calculated? How do central banks attempt to stabilise it? What do we mean when we talk about hyperflation, disinflation, stagflation or greedflation? What about exchange rate, property price and stock prices? What is the relationship between inflation and climate crisis, population growth, public health, etc.?

In his new book L’Inflation, C’est Quoi? Pourquoi les prix montent, French economist Bastien Drut explains the ins and outs of a phenomenon that we hear of in the news almost everyday without necessarily understanding its process and implications - except perhaps, the consequence on our bank account!

This book is accompanied by 50 sketchnotes & illustrations furthering the accessibility of the concept whilst expending the audience reach of what seems a very abstract discipline: economics. As this book is not only for economists but for everyone who is interested in finding out what money really is; educating ourselves on the subject, understanding the micro and macro mechanisms at its core to hopefully have a better agency over the system that is imposed to our society.

I am honoured to have taken part in that project, I learned so much in the process and I hope the readers will too. L’Inflation, C’est Quoi? Pourquoi les prix montent is out now and available in all bookshops in France as well as your usual online bookstores.

Greenbelt 2.0

Last month I had the pleasure to join the Green Belt 2.0 R&D project led by Green Future Associates. This effort was part of Grounding Technologies, a Watershed’s pilot project exploring how creative technology can be used to support climate action.

What is the Greenbelt? How can we reimagine its use around Bristol through the co-creation of maps? More importantly, how can this project lift the voice of the community and reclaim this relationship with the rural land?

With a commitment to experimentation and multi-disciplinarity, Greenbelt 2.0 used film, animation, photography, live illustration, drone capture, open-data mapping and sound recording to capture the community’s discussion.

Timelapse of the live illustration of the Greenbelt workshop.

I live illustrated the workshop that took place at the Yew Tree Farm. I then turned these visual captures into independent sketchnotes that where animated by the fabulous team at Reuben & Jamie. The illustrations helped translating the communities ideas for the greenbelt.

And thanks to Reuben & Jamie I even have my own little Greenbelt-inspired Instagram sticker now!

Centring the Patient in Parkinson’s Research

The Ageing and Movement Research Group is a group of researchers from different backgrounds who are dedicated to advancing research in ageing, with a focus on Parkinson’s, movement disorders and neurodegenerative conditions. They are committed to empowering older people to live better lives by researching ageing, with a specific focus on Parkinson's and conditions that affect the brain or movement.

This December the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group gathered for a workshop and topics included current care and advice for people diagnosed with Parkinson’s as well as mobility and social inclusion. I was honoured to capture these exchanges with live illustration.

Submergence in the NHS

I recently collaborated with light, sound & technologies pioneers Squidsoup and created a visual summary of their research findings for their Submergence in the NHS project. Submergence is an immersive walkthrough experience using thousands of suspended lights to creat feelings of presence and movement. These experiences were tested in hospitals with patients and staff throughout the past 6 months in Gloucestershire. Find out more about the project here.

Citizens For Culture

This year I collaborated with Citizens in Power, an organisation co-founded by Saad Eddine-Said and David Jubb. I was commissioned to create illustrated resources to explained how a citizen’s assembly could shape a cultural plan for the South West region. Find out more about this project here.

Connecting through Culture as We Age

It was a pleasure to live illustrate the Connecting Through Culture As We Age Showcase at the Watershed. Established in 2021, this three year UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge funded project is exploring how and why we take part in arts and culture as we get older. The whole day event at the Watershed told the story of the research and six prototype teams presented their work to the world. Read more about the showcase here.

Understanding and Strengthening the Worcestershire VCSE

The VCSE Worcestershire Alliance is a newly formed collective of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations working together to make health service provision stronger and develop partnerships that benefit Worcestershire communities. I was commissioned to create a poster for their assembly showing VCSE organisations registered and operating in Worcestershire, indicating how long they have been established, their size, and their focus of work. It was fascinating to turn the raw data of this intelligence gathering and scoping exercise into accessible and digestible visuals for the audience to be inspired and decide the next steps to help make Worcestershire a better and healthier place to live and work.

Demystifying the Visual Arts

I was honoured to live illustrate this four-part online talks series exploring the networks, systems and opportunities in the art world. These informal conversations gathered some of the people involved in different parts of the arts, including Funders, Curators & Directors of galleries and Artists who are creating opportunities for other artists and making work collectively. These talks were hosted by Artes Mundi and Disability Arts Cymru as part of the Creativity is Mistakes programme, a collaborative project between Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists and visual arts organisations in Wales. The project centres the voices, talents and lived experiences of disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent visual artists in developing innovative models for collective access in the visual arts.

Dare you!

Même Pas Cap! (translates as Dare you! in English) is not only an expression of defiance, it is the name of a French organisation daring professionals to explore and follow new carrier paths. Through bespoke coaching and mentoring programmes, the team elaborates thorough digital skills assessments to support individuals in their carrier progression. The French family business is only a few years old but has gained national praise for their work especially during the pandemic.

This September co-founder and brand content manager Sixtine Trocheris published Changer de Vie Pro, Je Suis Cap (translates as Changing Professional Life, Yes I Can!), a must-have book full of tips for those looking to evolve, convert or pivot their professional life.

I had the pleasure to illustrate the cover and the inside of this publication. For more information on the book and the organisation, follow Même Pas Cap on Instagram!

Sustrans For Everyone

This summer I was honoured to live illustrate long term client Sustrans’ EDI Away Day. I have been working with the Walking & Cycling charity for the past couple of years, live and non-live, producing illustrations to accompany their Equity, Diversity & Inclusion journey in active travelling. It’s been fascinating to learn by their side about collective endeavour and social mobility. Their honesty and transparency has been key in my own EDI journey. Find out more about Sustrans on their website.

Mobility Camp Birmingham

I was very pleased to join the lovely team at Mobility Camp for the second year in a row. This time the unconference took place in Birmingham and explored how transport planners, modellers, engineers, technologists, social activists, academics and others could change the narrative in the transport sector. Find out more about the event and read the recap here.

Flourishing in Medicine Symposium 2023

I have been lucky to collaborate with Dr Louise Younie for a few years and create live & editorial illustrations for her research on creative enquiry methodologies in medical education. This September, like every year, the Flourishing in Medicine Symposium took place and I had the pleasure to capture the discussions of healthcare practitioners and medical students, sharing space and thoughts about how to flourish in medicine - as opposed to the “resilience” idea often expected in this field.

Here are some extracts from this year’s edition. More information about this research can be found on the Flourishing through Creative Enquiry website.

International Robotics Showcase

Earlier this summer I had the pleasure to be commissioned to live illustrate the International Robotics Showcase, the first since the pandemic. This edition’s theme theme was “The Future of Robotics and Autonomous Systems”. It was fascinating to find out more about Robotics as a holistic discipline, including how SF can inspire our future. Find out more about the event here.