Transforming Narratives:

Reimagining Humanitarian Aid

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Innovation Service, UNHCR

In this two-part workshop, we experimented with storytelling as practice. Participants first deconstructed the myths and legends that shape and limit how their work, in the humanitarian context, is currently understood and performed. Next, and in dialogue with this, we playfully constructed new stories as catalysts for imagining and extending our capacities to act in alternative and unexpected ways—particularly as these relate to solidarity, belonging, and identity. Through joyous engagement and collaborative fabulation, we  conjured narratives that can transform the habitual and the circumscribed, expanding our view of what is possible. This pilot workshop was part of a larger project to broaden and reframe the methods we use for speculation. Download activity book that was shared with participants in advance as a warm up.

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