If stories are powerfully forms of testimony, persuasion, community-building, how can sound and music be mobilized in storytelling to inform and enhanced community participation in policymaking? What makes sound and music distinctive media for sharing stories? And as interest rises in the use of narrative evidence in policymaking, how should we be listening to stories, and what can music and sound research tell us about how to cultivate a discerning ear?

This workshop brings together researchers across a wide variety of fields to explore the role of music and creative sonic practices in telling and listening to stories in diverse areas that inform policymaking from community arts and sonic heritage through collective memory and placemaking to sonification in science communication and storylistening in public reason.

In the first half we will hear from scientists with longstanding interests in enhancing science communication and public season by listening to stories and sonifying data. There will also be a video presentation from data sonification studio Loud Numbers about a recent art sonification project. The second half will feature panel presentations from a variety of music and sound researchers who have used creative approaches to sound in community engagement and to inform policy and planning across a range of issues from migration to urban design.

This is the third of a series of FREE workshops organized by Professor Naomi Waltham-Smith to explore the potential for music and sound research to inform policymaking. These workshops will bring together academics from multiple disciplines with NGOs, grassroots and other civil society organizations, lawyers, and others working to influence policymaking to discuss how music and sound research can impact public policy beyond areas like music education, health and wellbeing, and the creative industries.

Learn more about the workshop series here: www.auralflaneur.com/open-workshops