Manifesto sprint on biocultural diversity: an experimental approach to knowledge co-creation, discourse design and collaborative writing

Abstract

New methodological and co-creation approaches are needed in Digital Humanities (DH) for cross-disciplinary collaboration oriented to sustainability. More specifically—in the context of Environmental Humanities and regarding biocultural diversity—a key challenge is to set effective and engaging ways of rapid knowledge generation for public awareness and policy-making. According to the 2019 United Nations report on biodiversity, the world will lose one million species in the upcoming years. In parallel, it is acknowledged that the degradation of biological diversity also threatens cultural and linguistic diversity, as declared by UNESCO. In an attempt to contribute to knowledge safeguarding this diversity, a hybrid approach combining the tradition of participatory design with DH tools and with the collaboration of a variety of scholars and stakeholders, has resulted in the co-creation of a manifesto on “biodiversity in connection with linguistic and cultural diversity”. We outline the design thinking methodology applied for this experimental case study, and in parallel apply software-aided discourse analysis of the manifesto co-writing process—from a “sprint” collaborative writing format to an online publication, moving from a face-to-face context into digital collaboration channels. Results highlight the importance of facilitation, flexibility and adequate ways of visualization “in progress” (via analogue materials and DH tools) during the co-writing sprint process, as well as the need to set basic co-creation protocols in such transdisciplinary context, considering synchronous and asynchronous collaboration. We discuss the importance of advancing between DH and sustainability-driven experimental co-creation, connecting practices with opportunities to develop collaborative writing and knowledge generation in the margins of academic settings.

Keywords

• biocultural diversity
• co-creation
• discourse analysis
• collaborative writing