Interactive Stories on Sustainable Development

In early 2009, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) embarked on its first organization-wide knowledge-harvesting exercise to collect a blend of recollections and reminiscences through storytelling. It gave birth to two much-appreciated contributions: Reflections and Beyond (also referred to as “The Yellow Book”) and its audio companion Beyond: Stories and Sounds from ADB’s Region.

In late 2010, a follow-up interactive, audiovisual project was conceptualized to promote the use of storytelling to elicit, capture, store, and share knowledge. It started when ADB mapped out sector and thematic milestones in its journey toward sustainable development, giving rise to a printed brochure called ADB Sustainable Development Timeline. It seemed natural to take things further and represent the timeline in a more versatile medium—an interactive, audiovisual platform that would allow users to browse not just data and information but also, more importantly, evocations of events. In December 2010, ADB initiated the long and arduous task of morphing the ADB Sustainable Development Timeline brochure multi-dimensionally.

In December 2011, on the occasion of ADB’s 44th anniversary, the introductory video of the ADB Sustainable Development Timeline was shown to ADB staff who enthused about it. The potential of the new multimedia platform was immediately recognized.