Data Challenge Spotlight: The Art of Community Wellness

“Data Challenge Spotlight” is a collaboration with the National Conference on Citizenship and GovFresh that highlights winners of the 2012 Civic Data Challenge. Follow the Civic Data Challenge on Twitter (@CivicData) and on Facebook.

What

The Art of Community Wellness

Give us the 140-character elevator pitch.

Our video uses civic health data to demonstrate the importance of arts education to communities, civic involvement and overall wellbeing.

What problem does "The Art of Community Wellness" solve for government and/or your community?

Arts education and its connection to community health touch on a variety of civic concerns. We see our video being particularly useful for those who instruct, organize, and fund educational programs for children. The video raises awareness not only of the importance of arts education for the future, but of the role it already plays in the world around us. We hope that it will prove a catalyst for broader public appreciation of the importance of the arts as part of a well-rounded citizenry.

What does having government collect civic data mean to you? 

Civic data is critically important for helping all of us understand how we’re engaging with our communities and our government. That knowledge (or lack of it) loops back into decisions about commerce, infrastructure, education, and lots of other areas that affect us on a daily basis. But sometimes it’s hard to know what you’re looking for and how to make sense of it. That’s what our project was all about: asking a meaningful question, exploring the data, understanding the story behind the numbers, and then telling that story in an accessible way. We found that it really takes people from all kinds of backgrounds – not just data scientists and not just storytellers – to make that happen.

How can those interested connect with you?

All team members are employees of Razorfish Healthware in Philadelphia. We’re on Facebook at facebook.com/RazorfishHealthware and Twitter (@PHI_Global). If you’d like to get in touch directly, send an email to erin.abler@razorfishhealth.com.

Video

[vimeo 46536254 w=600 h=337]