Interactive documentary and non-profit engagement: building an inclusive story practice in heritage

This thesis examines the potential of interactive documentary (i-Doc) as an inclusive model of storytelling that can benefit non-profit organizations in widening public participation, improving engagement and supporting fundraising. Through the case study of a single organization, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), the research addresses the diversity gap in heritage storytelling as the first step in improving public participation from diverse audiences. Through the analysis of primary and secondary data from the CBA, the study identifies a lack of understanding of immigrant perspectives of heritage in the UK, proposing to create an i-Doc that forefronts such underrepresented voices through a co-creative film process. By adopting a participatory approach, the study then develops an interactive storytelling platform through an iterative design process with participants, exploring personal themes of archaeology and heritage in an everyday context. The result of the study is a working model of an i-Doc that presents digital stories of the participants. This storytelling model offers the CBA the opportunity to increase their digital visibility, supporting their goals of using innovative creative avenues to reach new audiences, diversify their membership and support their long-term fundraising strategies. The research contributes to new insights in adopting the interactive documentary as a creative pathway to building inclusive and robust engagement methods that can benefit non-profit organizations, considering the challenges and opportunities that such technologies present.