Workshop Counting the Uncounted by Airwars Workshop Counting the Uncounted by Airwars

A practical introduction to combining crowd and open source intelligence to report civilians deaths in war by working with open sources methods and materials. The focus will be the recent investigation by Airwars and Amnesty into civilian harm during the battle to retake Raqqa from the so-called Islamic State. We will look into social media as a source of reporting, try out geolocation and satellite image analysis all via public platforms. In the afternoon session we will experiment with the different ways (structural, visual, textual etc.) the body of research can be mobilised to tell new stories.

In this workshop, we will look at the recent investigation by Airwars and Amnesty into civilian harm during the battle to retake Raqqa from the so-called Islamic State. We will look into social media as a source of information and try out geolocation and satellite image analysis, all via public platforms. In the afternoon, we will experiment with the different ways (structural, visual, textual etc.) the body of research can be mobilised to tell new stories.

We want to ensure a mix of participants at the workshop, with different professional backgrounds and different skills. If you would like to come, send a short email letting us know who you are, what you hope to get from the workshop and whether you want a regular or student ticket via the 'contact the organiser' button

• Bring a laptop
• Download Google Earth Pro in advance
• Read the trigger below on distressing content

Content warning: We will be working with real research materials from the war in Syria, some of which contain distressing content. As a policy, we will avoid graphic imagery.

This workshop is part of a lecture and workshop series on architecture and investigative journalism, curated by Alison Killing together with Het Nieuwe Instituut. The program gives an overview of the current state of this emerging field through a series of talks by leading practitioners; develops practical skills through in-depth workshops; and builds professional links between architects and journalists to enable future collaborations.

Architectural and spatial analysis tools have been critical in a series of recent groundbreaking investigative journalism projects: from the New York Times investigation into last year's mass shooting in Las Vegas, to Bellingcat's investigation into who was responsible for the shooting down of the MH17 flight over Ukraine, to Forensic Architecture and Forensic Oceanography's work on search and rescue for migrants in the southern Mediterranean. These tools enable investigations to be carried out that would not have been possible in the past. While Architecture could be an asset to journalism, two circumstances stand in the way of these approaches being adopted more widely - the two professional groups often don't interact, and there is a (relatively small) skill gap that needs to be bridged. This series addresses both conditions.

The architecture, investigative journalism and documentary series will explore how an architect's skills (design, ability to think in three dimensions, technical drawing and 3d modelling, visual representation and analysis) can be used to support journalistic and documentary practice - to investigate and tell stories that are in the public interest. The series, starting in spring 2019, will cover the range of activities involved in investigating and communicating a story, from gathering evidence, to its processing, analysis and communication. For each event, a world-class practitioner will be invited to give an evening lecture, followed by a hands-on workshop to share tools and methods with students and professionals in relevant fields - architects, digital designers, journalists and documentary makers, among others.

This project is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL