Empowering Communities Through the Researcher in Residence Program
Summary
We are excited to welcome Xenia Adjoubei, Research Specialist in territorial analysis, sustainability and emergent tech, and Associate Director at Studio intO to our upcoming Advancing Research session on Wednesday, 29 March at 9:45am-10:15am. Xenia will share her insights and experiences on a range of topics, including the power of community-led research, the democratization of knowledge, and the impact of new-old tools in promoting social good. Her talk will be an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of the role of research and innovation in addressing humanitarian crises and promoting social justice. We invite you to join us for this inspiring and informative event, and to be a part of the conversation about the future of research and innovation in our communities.
Key Insights
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Studio Into’s Researcher in Residence program employs community members from vulnerable groups to conduct research, grounding insights in lived experience.
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The Voices Ukraine project hired Ukrainian refugee researchers quickly after the war began, collecting 32 personal stories across Poland.
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They used tools like dovetail for qualitative data organization and Google Earth to map refugee journeys geographically with quotes and photos.
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Public outputs include co-creating a 3D tapestry exhibition representing refugee stories, engaging local communities and refugees together.
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Integrating analog crafts with digital visualization methods helps reach different community audiences on multiple cultural and accessibility levels.
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Data sovereignty and governance are emerging critical topics, especially for marginalized groups with limited digital access and literacy.
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The program is pro bono and funds researchers’ salaries to ensure economic support flows directly into affected communities.
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Studio Into prioritizes de-westernizing research by including community members in deciding insights and data interpretation.
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Future topics under consideration include climate justice and developing interactive tools empowering communities to self-analyze data.
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Maintaining the authorial voice and direct links to original qualitative data is crucial to preserve data integrity and participant agency.
Notable Quotes
"You either give money as an unprofessional civilian or you do your job and offer professional services to help the crisis."
"We fundraised to cover Tatiana’s salary for three months so she could launch this project very quickly after the war started."
"We mapped every individual journey on Google Earth attaching quotations and photographs to each location to represent human experiences."
"We were interested in supporting networks of self-organization and mutual aid formed between refugees and host communities."
"The use of dovetail helps organize diverse information without losing the author’s voice or connection to original data."
"We believe in global citizenship and de-westernizing research by including community members in the discourse and insight decisions."
"The Researcher in Residence program invites members of affected communities to use our tools over a funded three-month period pro bono."
"Data sovereignty is about who owns your data, which country’s laws apply, and how vulnerable groups are fairly protected."
"Engaging communities requires thinking beyond western-centric tools, considering language and cultural relevance for accessibility."
"The tapestry exhibition will be a three-dimensional map co-created with refugees and local school kids to reflect their stories."
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