Change Stories is an international research partnership that aims to spark dialogue and learning through storytelling about sustainable urban development. Researchers and community-based partners from five cities have partnered to shift common practices of how stories about successful urban change are told, and who tells them.
Belfast (Northern Ireland), Belo Horizonte (Brazil), and Bogotá (Colombia) are partners and research sites, as each city has an inspiring example of sustainable urban development, meeting the needs of marginalized groups, and supporting health through non-medical approaches.
Stories about urban change are often simplified, giving credit to a single mayor or policy. By “change stories,” we mean a compilation of complex and diverse narratives about how a city transforms over time.
Researchers are exploring the historical, social, political, economic, and cultural contexts in which transformation occurs. We are studying stories of urban change that are inclusive – not only are they told by people who are often ignored, but they are also instances of change that benefit them.
Through Change Stories, we are establishing new relationships between academic and community-based partners, centering joy and respect for diverse knowledge in our work.
This project is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Co-PIs
- Sergio Montero, Associate Professor, Department of Human Geography & Director, IIESL, University of Toronto Scarborough
- Helen Pineo, Research Associate Professor, Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington
