New Narratives Storytelling Lab. Leeds, UK

Abstract

The New Narratives Workshop held in Leeds on March 19–20, 2025, provided a space for organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers to examine their approaches to inclusion, storytelling, and digital engagement. Designed to help participants reconsider projects that facilitate participation, the workshop foregrounded the use of storytelling as a tool to counteract cynicism and fear, encouraged decisions about digital tools, and explored how to engage without defaulting to visibility. Building on the earlier Folkestone edition—which enabled six Kent-based organisations to develop initiatives ranging from mental health to skills training—the Leeds workshop offered space for reflection, dialogue, and learning. Participants included representatives from the earlier Folkestone edition who grounded the workshop by recounting their experiences following the New Narratives project and how it had changed their practices. Samphire and Compass Collective, for example, both presented their experiences in planning, fundraising, and sustaining projects. Their insights set the stage for reflections on the tensions between digital presence and engagement, and on what it means to be inclusive in a digitised environment.