Oral history is as old as us. It’s a powerful tool for capturing real experiences, preserving personal and national heritage, and fostering community dialogue. The majority of current heritage and community projects involve outsiders coming into communities to document lives, People 2 People (P2P) changes that.
P2P is built on the back of work such as StoryCorps and The Listening Project, but the creative process is designed to be owned by communities to preserve their heritage for themselves.
In short, local people interview each other on topics of cultural, social, and historical significance in a format that is easy to use and can be used again and again.
P2P uses oral history and interviewing methodologies while introducing democratised, community-driven approaches through the use of technology, training and AI assistance. This method ensures that storytelling remains authentic, inclusive, and deeply rooted in local narratives, empowering individuals to take ownership of their own histories.
Why P2P, why now?
Oral history projects have traditionally been led by external researchers or professional historians, often positioning communities as passive participants. P2P shifts this dynamic by making community members the interviewers and narrators, ensuring that perspectives remain organic and representative of lived realities.
This approach aligns with best practices outlined by the Oral History Society (UK), which states that “oral history gives history back to the people in their own words. It offers a means for those who have been hidden from history to be heard” (Oral History Society, 2023). Additionally, the Heritage Fund’s “Involving Communities in Heritage” report (2021) emphasises that heritage projects should “place communities at the heart of the process, ensuring that narratives reflect diverse and localised experiences.”
Objectives
- Empower communities: Enabling local people to conduct interviews on topics of shared significance.
- Capture and preserve: Authentic community voices and lived experiences.
- Enhance inclusivity: Ensuring that oral history is recorded from a broad range of perspectives, including marginalised groups.
- Strengthen community cohesion by facilitating intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue.
- Provide a sustainable model that allows communities to continue recording and sharing their stories beyond the initial project period.
How P2P is delivered
P2P follows a structured yet adaptable methodology designed to maximise participation and engagement:
- Recruitment & Training
- Identify community participants from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.
- Provide basic training in interview techniques, ethical considerations, and recording methods, following guidelines from the British Library Oral History Collection and the Oral History Society.
- Pairing Interviewers & Participants
- Match individuals based on shared connection but different interests, backgrounds, or themes (e.g., industrial heritage, migration stories, cultural traditions).
- Encourage peer-to-peer interviewing, ensuring natural, conversational storytelling.
- Interview Process
- Conduct semi-structured interviews, allowing for both guided questions and organic conversation.
- Record interviews using easy to use audio and video equipment such as GoPro, OSBOT etc, ensuring clarity and long-term archival quality. Technology is user-friendly, easy to set up and kits can be purchased with associated training.
- Gain informed consent from participants, following GDPR-compliant data protection standards.
- Archiving & Public Engagement
- Curate a digital archive, making interviews accessible via community websites, museums, or local libraries.
- Develop multimedia outputs including exhibitions, short films, and social media content.
- Organise community showcase events, similar to The British Museum’s “Voices of the Community” project (2022), where recordings are shared in an interactive setting.
What happens after P2P?
- A permanent oral history collection for communities to preserve and reference.
- Increased engagement in heritage and community-led storytelling.
- A replicable interviewing framework that can be expanded to other regions and projects.
- Stronger intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue, strengthening social ties.
- Enhanced local identity and representation in heritage initiatives.