Data Walking is a participatory workshop that introduces walking as a method for collecting information from the environment. By observing, recording and creatively interpreting what we encounter along the way, participants will generate new perspectives on place and learn how data can become a tool for artistic exploration, storytelling and social engagement.
During the workshop, participants will experiment with different ways of documenting their observations—through notes, sketches, photographs, sound, mapping and other creative methods. Together, these observations will be transformed into visualisations that reveal hidden patterns, relationships and narratives within the landscape. Rather than treating data as abstract numbers, Data Walking approaches it as an embodied and situated experience, opening new ways of seeing, sharing knowledge and imagining places.
This workshop is aimed at creative practitioners, artists, designers, researchers and anyone interested in walking, visualisation, participatory design and place-based inquiry.
No previous experience with data collection or visualisation is required.
About the facilitators
Nick Verouden is a researcher, anthropologist and Senior Lecturer at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, affiliated with the Creative Media for Social Change research group and the Digital Society School. His work explores the intersections of design, technology, sustainability and social innovation through participatory methodologies and collaborative learning. Within the Walking Arts and Local Communities (WALC) project, he contributes as representative of the WALC Node Creative Media for Social Change research group to the development of practices connecting walking, digital culture and place-based social innovation.
Maaike van Cruchten is a lecturer-researcher at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and a freelance filmmaker, illustrator and information designer. Affiliated with the Creative Media for Social Change research group, her work explores inclusive data visualisation, storytelling and participatory design. Through a combination of artistic practice, education and research, she develops creative approaches that make complex social and technological issues accessible, fostering critical thinking, collaboration and civic engagement.
Walking Arts & Local Communities (WALC) is an artistic cooperation project, co-funded by the European Union, Creative Europe, starting in January 2024 for four years. With seven partners from five countries, WALC establishes an International Center for Artistic Research and Practice of Walking Arts, in Prespa, Greece, at the border with Albania and North Macedonia, backed up by an online counterpart in the format of a digital platform for walking arts.
WALC builds on the previous work of hundreds of artists and researchers already practicing Walking Arts as a collaborative medium, and having met at the significant previous walking arts events and encounters in Greece, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, and during online activities at walk · listen · create.
We acknowledge the support of the EU Creative Europe Cooperation grant program in the framework of the European project WALC (Walking Arts and Local Community).
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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