Storytelling training course
Volunteering can be a powerful force for change… but sometimes, it unintentionally reinforces the inequalities it is meant to challenge. You have probably seen it — the shiny brochures or Instagram ads from profit agencies selling “life-changing” trips to “help the poor” in “faraway” countries. All smiles on the surface, but underneath? The same old colonial lens, just dressed up in modern marketing.
That is exactly what we set out to challenge in May 2024, when 20 changemakers from Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East came together in Vienna for five days of reimagining how we tell stories.
Storytelling is not just communication — it’s strategy, it is power, it is how we shift narratives.
Over the week, we mixed creativity and advocacy to explore how visual storytelling can support the advocacy work of three volunteering networks. Together, we:
Examined how narratives and framing can change the way history and current events are seen.
Experimented creating visual stories through photos and videos.
Critically reviewed our own materials to sharpen future storytelling for advocacy.
We worked with non-formal education tools that encouraged co-creation and peer learning — not just absorbing information, but building new knowledge together.
- Creative sessions unleashed fresh ideas — from meme factories to personal storytelling to exploring non-Western narrative structures.
- Team-building activities built trust and connection, creating a safe space to work and exchange in a very diverse group.
- Content deep-dives unpacked colonisation, advocacy, and the craft of impactful visual storytelling.
By the end, participants had created ten original videos — each challenging the way stories are usually told. They were not just better stories, they took a whole new approach.