DigitalCollab Reflection 3: Care

I think out of the five principles which the article mentions, the “join the community” aspect was relevant to us and our studies over the past couple of years. Getting to join NGRREC and be exposed to the environmentalist community in my first year of college was something that created memories and framed the importance of working with environmental non-profits in a different light. I was able to see the human element of it and understand how that could change my interpretation of what these organizations do. It also helped me ground my understanding of science in people and not just some recondite image that exists in our collective consciousness. Being within a community was integral to understand the importance of community outreach.

For my current project, I think “telling better stories” is the most relevant point. In this semester, we are going from being a part of the communities and organizations we were working with, to now telling the stories that we learned whilst we were there. I have worked with Heartlands and NGRREC, and now I want to try working with the Sierra Club to experience what these organizations are like. Getting involved with them is step one, but telling their story and communicating it to an audience in an interesting way is just another part to it.

Source: https://idronline.org/the-science-of-what-makes-people-care/