Speaker: Dr Maria Rusca, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University & Nathalie Richards, Department of Geography, KCL

Visual methods are becoming increasingly popular in social sciences, but are still little explored when it comes to water-related studies. Drawing on our experience in undertaking a videography project in Maputo, Mozambique, this seminar reflects on the role and potential of this method to capture and visualise inequalities in access to domestic water.

In Maputo, we investigated two forms of marginalisation. The first concerns customers of the water utility, living at the very end of the distribution network. These customers suffer the most from water shortages and are often supplied only during the night for a few hours. The second form of marginalisation concerns people living outside the area served by the water utility. The documentary Water at the Margins (2018) describes these challenges.

Following the projection, we will discuss the promise of videography by reflecting on how it complements talk-based methods, what additional data sets it can provide and how it can be mobilised in education, outreach, and advocacy activities, as well as important ethical questions such as the data collection process, the production of and access to knowledge, and the ethics of documentary as a medium.

This event is run in conjunction with King's Water