This online tool is intended to help you plan or reflect on collaborative media projects and research teams. Many participatory projects are the result of intuitive, difficult to describe, or “messy” processes, that evolve outside the realm of careful planning. Our hope is that by using this tool you can gain clarity and be more transparent with involved partners, team members, advisors, funders, and participants about your goals and hopes for the project. This tool is geared towards participatory media work, but can be used for other projects, processes, or research.
Using the tool
The tool is comprised of a web page and two PDF questionnaires (planning/reflecting). The website will lead you through prompts, questions, examples, and recommended readings divided into categories related to people and process. You can follow the categories in order, or jump around to the areas you are most interested in exploring. The PDF is a simplified version of the experience and is helpful when working offline or in a group setting.
We envision people using the PDF as a companion tool while moving through the website. We hope this malleable structure will allow multiple entry points that are instrumental to a wide range of participatory work.
