Storytelling: An approach to create empathy

Discussions around urban policies and migration dynamics tend to focus on numbers, laws and statistics, overshadowing the people that are affected by these issues. Storytelling is a great methodology to help policy makers and practitioners put individual stories at the center of their reflections.

This exercise, designed particularly for a peer-learning event around the governance of urban migration, allowed participants to reconnect to the stories of migration that they have seen, heard or experienced themselves, and, through them, reflect on the way individuals exercise their right to the city as they interact with local governments, organized civil society and other actors in the city.

Each group was invited to create the story of an individual following a set of assigned characteristics regarding their age, gender, family structure, education level, time of arrival and vulnerability. The stories had to illustrate a possible outcome of a better articulation between local governments and civil society, previously discussed and agreed within each group. As each group shared the story of their character with other participants, the entities, institutions, organizations and urban spaces they perceived as most relevant were drawn in a large paper sheet. The resulting illustration, together with the key elements of each character, clearly showcased how coordination among the different actors that support and interact with migrants can facilitate their inclusion, their access to basic services and their right to the city.

Read more about the peer-learning event in which this exercise was implemented in our Peer Learning Note.

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