Reflection - Visualisation 

 Challenge and selection 

 On a recent project , I was asked to work with a community who lived in a significantly biodiverse area   in South Africa . It was assumed that the community would be happy to take on the mantle of custodian   of the environment , and take measures to protect and conserve it . However , it soon became apparent   that this was not the approach being taken by the community , and the area was under severe   environmental threat . The local municipality sought to engage with community members , in such a   way that members would see the benefit of becoming agents of natural resource management , and   conservation . 

 Although an anthropologist by profession , it is my background as a graphic designer that has enabled   me to help communities visualise their way into a new way of living . Using various visualisation   techniques has helped me on many occasions to breach the language barrier that is so prevalent in   South Africa , which has 11 official languages . By using visualisation techniques , such as Photovoice ,   we are able to better understand the current context of participants , their thoughts and opinions , as   well as their hopes for the future , in a way that pure dialogue would never enable .   Due to the   education system in rural South Africa , many people are not encouraged to think critically , and are   certainly not encouraged to be creative . Visualisation helps them to access creativity , and use parts of   the brain that have grown dormant . 

 Application 

 Two visualisation tools were chosen for this project . The first was Photovoice . Volunteers were   selected from the community , and attended an orientation , which described the purpose and   intention of the project . Volunteers then attended a basic photography workshop , and were given   disposable cameras to take home with them . They were asked to take photos that specifically   demonstrated how their environment was under threat , and could include issues such as soil erosion ,   waste disposal , water wastage , etc . After two weeks , cameras were collected , photos printed and a   workshop held with volunteers . It was during this phase that challenges arose . Firstly , some cameras   were not returned ; being the first and only device of its kind in the household , meant that it grew legs   and went off with the wrong person ( never to return ) . Secondly , some volunteers were threatened as   they were perceived to be “ spying on ” or invading the privacy of others . Due to recent xenophobic   attacks in the area , people had become understandably sensitive . 

 During the workshop process , each volunteer took their photos and wrote a short narrative about why   they thought each photo demonstrated environmental degradation . The volunteers presented their   photos to the group and stuck the photos on a large whiteboard . Once all the photos were up , the   participants were asked to group the photos into themes , and then rank the groupings from mild to   severe . This synthesis of information helped to weed out the least problematic issues , and focus on   the main challenges . 

 The second visualisation tool was the creation of a vision board . The group was given a stack of   magazines and asked to create a vision board of the type of community they aspired to live in , using   pictures from the magazines . Two posters were then created , one of the current situation ( what is ) ,   and one of their aspiration community ( what if ) , and this was shared in a community workshop to   develop a community action plan , that the majority agreed upon . 

 Insight 

 As always , the findings of the project were a surprise to both the implementers and the participants .   On the one hand , community members shared that a lack of service delivery by the municipality in the   area , encouraged the degradation of the environment . Rubbish was not collected regularly , and   clearance of septic tanks were often left too long . On the other hand , overgrazing of cattle had led to   soil erosion , and vandalism of school properties ( such as science labs ) had adversely affected school   children . Community members , through the visual process , were able to identify their own actions   that led to degradation , but had also found a way to demonstrate to the municipality that lack of   municipal planning and delivery , had also contributed to the problem . Thus , an opportunity for   dialogue between the two was opened up , in their now mutual aspirations to improve the area . 

 Approach 

 In hindsight , more time would have been spent considering the socio - economic factors that might   have arisen and impacted negatively on the project . Issues such as distrust within the community , and   “ borrowing ” of goods perceived as now belonging to the family , certainly meant less data being   gathered . Other issues , such as the patriarchal hierarchy within the community , meant less women   spoke out in front of men , and perhaps next time , these two groups would be separated , to obtain a   more representative viewpoint . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Reflection - Visualisation 

 Challenge and selection 

 On a recent project , I was asked to work with a community who lived in a significantly biodiverse area   in South Africa . It was assumed that the community would be happy to take on the mantle of custodian   of the environment , and take measures to protect and conserve it . However , it soon became apparent   that this was not the approach being taken by the community , and the area was under severe   environmental threat . The local municipality sought to engage with community members , in such a   way that members would see the benefit of becoming agents of natural resource management , and   conservation . 

 Although an anthropologist by profession , it is my background as a graphic designer that has enabled   me to help communities visualise their way into a new way of living . Using various visualisation   techniques has helped me on many occasions to breach the language barrier that is so prevalent in   South Africa , which has 11 official languages . By using visualisation techniques , such as Photovoice ,   we are able to better understand the current context of participants , their thoughts and opinions , as   well as their hopes for the future , in a way that pure dialogue would never enable .   Due to the   education system in rural South Africa , many people are not encouraged to think critically , and are   certainly not encouraged to be creative . Visualisation helps them to access creativity , and use parts of   the brain that have grown dormant . 

 Application 

 Two visualisation tools were chosen for this project . The first was Photovoice . Volunteers were   selected from the community , and attended an orientation , which described the purpose and   intention of the project . Volunteers then attended a basic photography workshop , and were given   disposable cameras to take home with them . They were asked to take photos that specifically   demonstrated how their environment was under threat , and could include issues such as soil erosion ,   waste disposal , water wastage , etc . After two weeks , cameras were collected , photos printed and a   workshop held with volunteers . It was during this phase that challenges arose . Firstly , some cameras   were not returned ; being the first and only device of its kind in the household , meant that it grew legs   and went off with the wrong person ( never to return ) . Secondly , some volunteers were threatened as   they were perceived to be “ spying on ” or invading the privacy of others . Due to recent xenophobic   attacks in the area , people had become understandably sensitive . 

 During the workshop process , each volunteer took their photos and wrote a short narrative about why   they thought each photo demonstrated environmental degradation . The volunteers presented their   photos to the group and stuck the photos on a large whiteboard . Once all the photos were up , the   participants were asked to group the photos into themes , and then rank the groupings from mild to   severe . This synthesis of information helped to weed out the least problematic issues , and focus on   the main challenges . 

 The second visualisation tool was the creation of a vision board . The group was given a stack of   magazines and asked to create a vision board of the type of community they aspired to live in , using   pictures from the magazines . Two posters were then created , one of the current situation ( what is ) ,   and one of their aspiration community ( what if ) , and this was shared in a community workshop to   develop a community action plan , that the majority agreed upon . 

 Insight 

 As always , the findings of the project were a surprise to both the implementers and the participants .   On the one hand , community members shared that a lack of service delivery by the municipality in the   area , encouraged the degradation of the environment . Rubbish was not collected regularly , and   clearance of septic tanks were often left too long . On the other hand , overgrazing of cattle had led to   soil erosion , and vandalism of school properties ( such as science labs ) had adversely affected school   children . Community members , through the visual process , were able to identify their own actions   that led to degradation , but had also found a way to demonstrate to the municipality that lack of   municipal planning and delivery , had also contributed to the problem . Thus , an opportunity for   dialogue between the two was opened up , in their now mutual aspirations to improve the area . 

 Approach 

 In hindsight , more time would have been spent considering the socio - economic factors that might   have arisen and impacted negatively on the project . Issues such as distrust within the community , and   “ borrowing ” of goods perceived as now belonging to the family , certainly meant less data being   gathered . Other issues , such as the patriarchal hierarchy within the community , meant less women   spoke out in front of men , and perhaps next time , these two groups would be separated , to obtain a   more representative viewpoint .
### Output: 