Co-Created Digital Storytelling for Empowerment and Change for Sustainable Environment

This chapter examines a participatory action research project in rural Malawi that utilised co-created digital storytelling for environmental education, empowerment, and community involvement. The initiative involved 22 photojournalism students from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources working with out-of-school youth from nearby villages to produce digital narratives about environmental degradation and restoration. Based on Ascroft’s principles of participation, the project positioned local communities as co-creators of knowledge and agents of change rather than passive recipients. Using culturally relevant pedagogy, it integrated real-world issues into academic learning to enhance motivation, identity development, and social awareness. Using Couldry’s concept of voice, media, and space, digital storytelling served as both an educational tool and a platform where participants exercised their voice within mediated environments, transforming social dynamics around who speaks, who is heard, and where meaning is generated. These co-created media spaces fostered reciprocal relationships and improved multimodal literacy. The project challenged top-down development models, strengthening agency, cultural pride, and civic participation. This chapter illustrates how digital media can bridge gaps between academia and marginalised rural communities. It highlights the potential of co-created storytelling to promote environmental awareness, sustainable action, and community-driven solutions in contexts often overlooked by conventional development approaches.