Migration Trail, an interactive documentary - combining data visualization and a podcast, has launched a 10-day interactive experience, retracing migrants' journey to Europe, through maps, data and audio. 

"Since the issue first drew major media attention in 2015 – the so-called 'migration crisis', has seen 1.5 million people arrive in Europe irregularly, fleeing war, escaping persecution, and searching for a new place to call home," said the platform. 

Migration Trail - Wind speed and direction over the central Mediterranean

Gathering true stories, new writing, and immersive data visualizations, Migration Trail is a 10-day interactive experience, encompassing mapped data visualization and a documentary podcast, that retrace the journeys of people setting out from the shores of North Africa and Turkey, in search of a better life in Europe. 

The data visualization will follow two characters: a Nigerian man and a Syrian woman. The characters’ voices will be written as a live instant messaging feed, by a professional writer from the same country of origin, and appear on the website and via a Facebook chatbot.

Migration Trail - Night view of the central Mediterranean, wind speed and direction, and the route of David, the Nigerian character across the sea and through Italy, by day 5

The stories revealed and presented in real time to convey the urgency and immediacy of the events, will reach the audience in their personal space - their phone - wherever they are. Although the stories are fictionalized, they are based on true accounts, unique first-hand interviews and research, collected by the production team over the past two and a half years.

Migration Trail - A night time view of Athens on day 5, when Sarah, the Syrian character has just arrived. The open message panel shows the messages she has sent most recently

A daily podcast will explore the wider issues surrounding irregular migration, and will work in parallel to the narratives in the data visualization, but also as a standalone series. The 11 episodes (each between 20 and 35 minutes long) will be released every evening at 19.00h, with a double-bill on the first day. 

Through the podcast series, we will hear the voices of real life irregular migrants traveling to Europe, of volunteers and NGOs, of border police and local government officials, and of experts such as academics and policy makers.

Migration Trail - A night time view of Athens on day 5, when Sarah, the Syrian character has just arrived. The open message panel shows the messages she has sent most recently

Storytelling around a map offers a fascinating opportunity to create a more informed debate around migration, by zooming in to the individual experience and zooming out to the larger social and political context, while showing how the different scales link together. The immersive experience, combining maps, data and audio, demonstrates how otherwise disconnected stories of Libyan people smugglers, Hungarian border closures, and German demographic trends, are actually all parts of the same global story.

The live project is now available at the website, which started from November 20th, 2017.

"The mission of the project is to create a more informed debate around migration, by zooming in to the individual experience and zooming out to the larger social and political context, while showing how the different scales link together, and are actually all parts of the same global story," explained Migration Trail. 

The documentary is now available on demand on the website and in the near future, Migration Trail will present other stories around the topic of migration - the team is currently working on one of an Afghan woman for the next documentary.

All images courtesy of Migration Trail

> via Migration Trail