Challenge & selection

We all know Medellin´s history full of drugs and violence but what you don’t know is that towards  the years it has become one of the most innovative cities in the world. The past was hurtful, but  the present seems brighter and keeps transforming into a growing city especially The Comuna 13.  It was labeled in the past as the most dangerous community in Medellin but know due to changes  in their organization and in the city in general, its transformation is creating a new history of  culture, art and innovation. That’s why storytelling is the perfect way to get into these vulnerable  people, to let us know their story, their life and most important what do they want to see in the  future, for them and their community. I use their feedback and stories to let them know there not  alone, to create a connection with them and to continue creating art and culture for The Comuna  13, developing strategies to try to find a way for them to capture their lives and experiences in  designing walls all around the city for everyone to know their stories.

Application

My work team and I gathered with a group of The Comuna´s 13 residents, which conform the  “Mas Héroes” group. They through storytelling represent their history, a story, an experience, a  person they want to commemorate, basically just anything that help us inspire not just this  commune but the whole city of Medellin. With this we want to beautify the area and continue  transforming it through optimism, creativity and expression. Is obvious that all walls can’t be  painted but we want them to not feel lonely and abandoned, instead feel hope and peace. We  also know that many people through storytelling are just telling what they want to be or achieve in  the future, so with the help of a social group that works for the mayoralty of Medellin we want to  give advice, guide and help them fulfill their dreams leaving behind a hurtful past.

Insight & approach

We told the different stories to the mayoralty of Medellin who felt amazed because they realized  how many talents The Comuna 13 and Medellin have. Also, their stories are being evaluated to  dictate the procedure to be followed, which will be captured in some places of the city and which  of the many who shared their history can receive support to fulfill their dreams. What I have  learned with the storytelling tool is that is important to create and find deeper thoughts that can  be accomplished with it, visualization can also be a great tool as a starting point in different design  thinking activities that lead us to hope for a better future for The Comuna 13 and Medellin. We  also identified different opportunities that came to us through this process, to take this idea to  different cities of Latin America.

