Photovoice: Engaging Communities through Photos, Narratives, and Discussion

Photovoice is an engagement method that can be used to explore community knowledge, experience, perceptions, and aspirations. The Photovoice process asks participants to take photographs in response to a question that is meaningful to the community. They write short narrative statements about their photographs, and then participate in group discussion. Finally, a public exhibit of selected photographs is held to engage with the broader community, including elected officials and other decision-makers. Learn how Jessica engaged two southern Maine coastal communities in a Photovoice project that explored the question, When it comes to [this place], what do you care about most? Jessica will reflect on her project and share thoughts on ways community groups can apply the same methods to capture the interest of their audience. Precourse work: 30 minutes

Jessica Brunacini, PhD, is a Coastal Resilience Extension Associate with Maine Sea Grant. Her work focuses on supporting Maines coastal communities as they plan for and respond to the impacts of climate change. Specifically, she helps to identify equitable approaches for engaging with underserved and underrepresented communities and directs attention to the social dimensions of building coastal resilience, with a focus on the needs of socially vulnerable groups. Jessica works collaboratively with the Maine Sea Grant Marine Extension Team, the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, and the Southern/Midcoast Community Resilience Partnership, as well as with local, state, and federal agencies, academic partners, non-governmental organizations, citizen groups, and individual community members, seeking to provide connectivity across geographic, sector, and stakeholder boundaries.