ID: 2265
Presenting Author: Lindsey Bungartz
Session: 639 - Contested Narratives: Misinformation, Mobilisation and Impact Assessment
Status: pending
This presentation explores how digital noise challenge social impact assessment, presenting MapChat as a tool for inclusive, place-based engagement in contested, digitally saturated environments.
In today’s digital landscape, social impact assessment practitioners face a growing challenge: how to communicate complex, nuanced information in environments shaped by scrolling culture, fragmented attention, and rapidly evolving social media platforms. These conditions demand brevity, emotional resonance, and algorithmic visibility—often at odds with the depth and deliberation required for meaningful engagement. Traditional consultation methods are increasingly mismatched with the expectations and behaviors of online audiences, and that new tools are needed to bridge this gap.
This presentation explores MapChat, a geospatial engagement platform, as a case study in reimagining digital dialogue. MapChat anchors conversations in place-based contexts, allowing users to interact with project information spatially and transparently. Its design supports inclusive participation, fosters trust, and enables practitioners to share information in ways that are both accessible and meaningful—without sacrificing complexity.
The presentation will share case studies for how MapChat has engaged affected communities during impact assessment resulting in a more informed public and proactive opportunities to address community concerns. The presenters will discuss principle for designing digital engagement strategies that respect attention limits while preserving the integrity of impact assessment processes. Through the presentation, we hope to encourage rethinking about communication in digitally saturated environments, and how tools like MapChat can help encourage local voices.
Lindsey is a social performance specialist with over 15 years’ experience in social impact assessment and stakeholder engagement aligned with international best practice in number of different sectors
Coauthor 1: Zoe Mullard