EXPANDING THE SHOCK TRACKER DATABASE OF SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SHOCKS THROUGH PARTICIPATORY LEARNING: A WORKSHOP IN MEXICO CITY
There is mounting evidence that we are living in a time of turbulence, with many disruptive events—wildfires, floods, disease outbreaks, and conflicts—becoming increasingly common and intense. In these times, understanding the dynamics of past shocks can help us better prepare and potentially prevent severe impacts in the future. The Shock Tracker is a living database of such events, formulated as storylines that describe multiple drivers and cascading impacts through a standardized reporting protocol. A particular focus of the protocol is to document how these shocks are shaped by interactions between people and nature, highlighting the role of human agency in both driving and responding to disruptive events.
In July 2025, we piloted an in-person Shock Tracker workshop in Mexico City with a cohort of international students. Through interactive activities—including a participatory systems game, a visit to the Natural History Museum using “shock lenses,” and group storytelling and mapping—the participants explored how shocks and creeping changes manifest across personal, social, and environmental scales. Each student documented a shock case, contributing directly to the living archive of the Shock Tracker. Survey responses showed that all participants improved their understanding of the concepts of shocks. The systems game and the final drawing and reflection session were widely regarded as meaningful, and all students reported enjoying the overall experience. While views on the museum’s usefulness as a venue were mixed, all participants would recommend the activity to fellow students, and most of them said the workshop helped them reflect on real-world environmental or social problems in a new way. By linking embodied learning with structured documentation, this workshop extended the reach of The Shock Tracker not only as a research database but also as a platform for collective sense-making.