“There’s a common goal of taking care of the land and mapping the knowledge that already exists in the collective memory of the community.”

María Alvarez Malvido

In this episode, Bethlehem Attfield talks to Maria Alvarez Malvido about her experience researching indigenous radio stations, digital storytelling and community-based uses of digital technologies.

María was born in Mexico City and currently lives in London. She holds an M.A. in Communication and Technology from the University of Alberta and a B.A. in Social Anthropology from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana–Iztapalapa. During her graduate studies, she collaborated with DigitalNWT, a train-the-trainer initiative supporting community networks across Canada’s Northwest Territories. María is also a member of the Research Centre on Technology and Community Knowledge (CITSAC) and Tierra Común, and has published a number of journalistic pieces on community media and technological autonomy.

As a member of Redes A.C she collaborated on research and participatory methodologies for the design and development of community networks to access, share and preserve local content. She also collaborates with Rising Voices, co-writing journalistic articles with Indigenous researchers and digital linguistic activists from communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America involved in the project. She currently works at Awana Digital, supporting local partners in East Africa who use participatory mapping and monitoring tools to protect their territories.