Statistics help tell a story, but they often miss the heart of it.
That's why a new collaborative research project is exploring how arts-based and Indigenous-informed approaches can complement conventional research on homelessness to contribute to more inclusive social policy.
"Statistics tell you a story, but they tell you a story in numbers, not in human experiences," says Deniz Ünsal, an associate professor in the School of Communication and Culture. "That's why I want to see how arts-based methods can be used for social policy research."
Titled Art for social transformation: Home, homelessness and social policy, the initiative is co-led by Ünsal in partnership with Royal Roads University, the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria, and Nova Arts Hub. The project is funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Beyond the numbers
The project will explore what participants' experiences reveal about belonging, systemic barriers, and culturally responsive approaches to housing and homelessness. At its core, it's about refining research methods and demonstrating how artistic expression can enhance traditional data collection, Ünsal says.
While research methods like surveys, interviews, statistics, and point-in-time counts all provide essential context, says Ünsal, they can overlook the emotions, relationships, and day-to-day realities behind the data. Arts-based research creates a new dynamic for asking questions and sharing experiences.
Shelley Cook, Executive Director for the Community Social Planning Council, agrees:
"When research is created with a community rather than simply about it, art becomes a way of listening, making visible lived experiences, and imagining responses to homelessness together."
Putting lived experience at the centre
Rather than treating participants as subjects, the project engages individuals with lived experience as co-researchers.
"They will decide what topics they want to explore," Ünsal explains. "They will decide which topics need to be addressed at the policy level. It's not our agenda that we expect them to fit. It's their lived experience and we are trying to understand."
Through a series of workshops at Nova Arts Hub, participants will use storytelling, community mapping, and collaborative art to explore their experiences and identify barriers and opportunities for change. Guided with support from a Songhees Nation knowledge keeper, the project will use Indigenous artistic practices rooted in land-based and relational ways of knowing to inform inclusive social policy that is more relational than reactive. For the Indigenous and racialized artists participating as co-researchers, this focus on shared values and knowledge creation will reflect what communities find meaningful.
"Arts- and community-based research doesn't just capture what's happening," says Lajah Warren, founder of Nova Arts Hub. "It allows communities to process, express, and make meaning of their own stories through art where they decide what happened, how we got here, and what's next. Art becomes a tool for justice."
From research to policy
Instead of adding illustration once the research is complete, the project embeds art directly into the research process. The resulting work will be shared at a public exhibition in Victoria. The team hopes the project will create practical guidance for other organizations interested in applying arts-based approaches to research social issues.
The goal is to add to, not replace, the existing body of homelessness research, Ünsal stresses. By combining research, creative expression, and lived experience, the team aims to bridge the gaps in conventional methodologies and inform more inclusive and responsive policy.
"If we can speak to the hearts of people, I think they may start thinking differently about how to approach policy."
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