Welcome to Creative Media for Social Change. We are a research group exploring how new forms of connection can be fostered and how we can collectively imagine new practices and visions for the future. Developing and testing creative interventions such as interrogative design, artistic research and storytelling we ask: How can we (un)learn together, grow together, and address societal challenges?
Check out the latest news from the Creative Media for Social Change research group
Deep, authentic connection is essential for sustainable social change. But how do you facilitate this? And how do you open yourself up to connection? These are the questions we explore in the new workshop series initiated by the Creative Media for Social Change research group. In this series of interactive workshops, we -creative makers, educators, and researchers- explore how we can create space for connection and transformation through creativity, inquiry, and empathy.
This project researches: What new knowledge, skills, and tools do community library staff require to work inclusively? In collaboration with librarians and their communities, we develop and test tools from social and participatory design to facilitate the community library.
In this EU-funded project we follow the co-creation of measures aimed at supporting the wellbeing of the soil and residents in the neighbourhood Tuindorp-Oostzaan in Amsterdam. We use a co-creative research approach, where we together make sense of the data and results of the research together with stakeholders.
What if AI...” is aimed at developing and testing methods to facilitate inclusive conversations about AI. We develop methods that aim to make explicit the emotions, myths and needs regarding AI that otherwise remain unspoken. And, using friction and interrogative design, we seek to make visible what remains invisible in the workings of AI. More about this project.
We recently published a calendar full of listening wisdoms! It invites you to practice the art of listening through questions, answers, open-hearted conversations, and thought-provoking statements. It features a selection of insights gathered from over a hundred participants who took part in the research group’s listening experiment during the ‘HvA Kennisparade’ (2024). We are currently working on the English translation – keep an eye out on this site, or drop us an email to be notified!
of Creative Media for Social Change
Tamara Witschge is Professor of Creative Media for Social Change. Together with partners, she develops and tests how imagination and connection can be strengthened through creative interventions.
Nick works as a Senior lecturer in research within the Creative Media for Social Change research group. His focus lies on projects centered around co-creation, participation, and dialogue in relation to societal transitions. Examples include EU-projects such as CommuniCity and Envision Change. Nick enjoys collaborating with colleagues on their research, especially on topics involving the complexity of human relationships: an interest rooted in his background in anthropology. He earned his PhD in 2006 at TU Delft. His doctoral research explored the dynamics of conversation, with special attention to the unspoken: “By observing silences in conversations, you learn entirely different things than when focusing only on what is said.” Nick also co-edited two poetry collections for Amnesty International, one of which explored the theme of silence.
Elise Talgorn is Associate Professor of Social Impact Storytelling at Creative Media for Social Change research group. She explores how narrative and artistic methods can foster empathy, collective imagination, and societal change.
Yomi has been working as a project manager at the Creative Media for Social Change research group since October 2023. She supports colleagues with the financial and administrative aspects that enable successful project delivery: “What I enjoy most is when a project comes to a successful close together with the team, that gives me energy.” Yomi is also an alumna of the AUAS (HvA), where she studied Media, Information and Communication (now: Creative Business).
Pearl holds a BA in Media, Information & Communication (now Creative Business) and has been working as a communications officer for the Creative Media for Social Change research group since 2021. Her graduation thesis focused on diversity in the dance world and multicultural dance education, where her interests in media and dance came together. She enjoys working on the group’s social media channels and is always engaged with what’s happening within the research group.
