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?
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.
of Creative Media for Social Change
Tamara Witschge is Professor of Creative Media for Social Change at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. 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 is a multidisciplinary researcher, designer, and artist specializing in storytelling and sustainable transitions. With a background in applied physics and the arts, she combines science, design, and creativity to address societal and ecological challenges. She earned her PhD at TU Delft in 2010 on solar cell technologies, worked on sustainable innovations at Philips, and developed radical visions on health and circularity. As Associate Professor of Social Impact Storytelling at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Elise focuses on fostering empathy and collective creativity through narrative methods. Her artistic and academic work connects people and nature and contributes to positive 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.
