Young women in Ukraine during a Participatory Video workshop

What is Participatory Video?

The meaning, history and enduring relevance of Participatory Video as a term and practice model is explored in this entry into the International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society written by InsightShare’s co-founder Chris Lunch and Tony Roberts from Royal Holloway, University of London.

The earliest recorded example of Participatory Video making is perhaps the 1967 work by the people of Fogo Island, Newfoundland, facilitated by Donald Snowden and Colin Low. The filmmakers set out to show that poverty could not simply be reduced to economic deprivation and that factors such as rural isolation and the inability to access information and communication media also needed to be addressed. The Fogo Process began by filming community members’ views and screening them to members of other isolated communities on the island.

‘Participatory Video’ – The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society
By Chris Lunch and Tony Roberts
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2015