Welcome to Resilience Innovation Lab (RIL). As we welcome the new year, we wish you all the best in 2026. We look ahead with hope and determination, ready to keep moving forward together.
In this newsletter, we will share updates on two manuals on community-led archiving and social movement oral history projects published by experts from the Hong Kong diaspora community.
Preserving Memory, Strengthening Community:
New Resources for Community Archiving and Oral History
We are pleased to introduce two newly published manuals developed by members of the Hong Kong diaspora, offering practical guidance on preserving community memory in challenging times.
Rescuing Histories: A Guide to Community Archival Practices provides step-by-step advice for the diaspora, grassroots groups and volunteers on how to organise, preserve, and care for both digital and physical records. Grounded in the principles of community archiving and archival activism, the manual emphasises ethical, trauma-informed, and resource-conscious approaches to safeguarding collective histories.
Complementing this, 守護記憶：民間口述歷史指南 (Safeguarding Memory: A Guide to Community Oral History), published by Hong Kong Social Movement Oral History Project, focuses on oral history as a powerful tool for documenting lived experiences often missing from official records. Written as an accessible introduction, it walks readers through planning, conducting, recording, and preserving oral history interviews, while carefully addressing legal, ethical, and safety considerations relevant to Hong Kong-related social movement histories.
Together, these two manuals serve as practical resources for communities seeking to preserve memories, strengthen resilience, and ensure that diverse voices and experiences are not lost to time.
Click here to read Rescuing Histories: A Guide to Community Archival Practice
Click here to read Safeguarding Memory: A Guide to Community Oral History (Chinese only)
Useful Resources
Judicial Records in Hong Kong * has made every effort to collect court decisions related to the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement for educational and research purposes. These records are still accessible on the website of Hong Kong’s judiciary, but their continued availability to the public in the future remains uncertain. All judicial records collected and displayed here are secured and maintained using blockchain technology, through which they are decentralized and immutable, ensuring transparency, tamper-resistance, and trust in the integrity of the data. Our goal is to utilize blockchain as a form of censorship resistance to preserve invaluable public records. If there are any omissions in this database, please feel free to notify RIL’s research team: info.dap@protonmail.com .
China Open Courts * aims to preserve and provide public access to judicial records from the People’s Republic of China that are at risk of disappearing from official sources. Below is an overview of the methodology adopted in this project, including our data collection strategies, scope of coverage, and plans for ensuring continued accuracy and relevance of the information. Interested parties are welcome to reach out to our team at chinaopencourts@protonmail.com for further information, collaboration opportunities, or suggestions on additional keywords and topics to include.
*To protect your identity and personal information, you are advised to use these online resources with an encrypted device and VPN.
An Unbreakable Wall? Challenges and Opportunities of Defending Freedom of Information in China is RIL’s first research report on information environment in China. This report provides a comprehensive account of China’s information environment under the rule of the CCP. Drawing on evidence-based insights from multiple perspectives, the report seeks to inform a broad range of stakeholders—from policymakers and international businesses to civil society organisations and academic institutions—and encourages collaborative efforts to address the challenges posed by China’s information landscape and its impact on global information networks. The full report is now available on our website.
Safeguarding Freedom of Information in Hong Kong: Challenges, Opportunities and Remedies is RIL’s second research report, focuding on information freedom in Hong Kong. The report systematically outlines how Hong Kong’s information access environment has been significantly constrained since the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL) in 2020 and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) in 2024. These measures have severely curtailed press freedom and undermined the ability of civil society to hold the government accountable. They have encouraged the withholding of publicly available data and represent a departure from international human rights standards. Access to and dissemination of information is increasingly criminalised, resulting in diminished government transparency, suppression of the media, and reduced accessibility to data for businesses. The repercussions are being felt by journalists, the business sector, researchers, and international organisations alike. The report is published bilingually on our website.
Who we are?
Resilience Innovation Lab (RIL) was founded by Asian veteran researchers and human rights defenders in 2023. RIL is a virtual platform promoting innovation, experimentation, and the exchange of research and educational initiatives that aim to develop and strengthen the democratic and digital resilience of organisations and individuals working in repressive environments.
RIL envisions a synergy of democracy, technology and civil society resilience today, especially when authoritarianism emerges as a common threat to liberal democracies and open societies. Building the capacities of citizens and civil groups to respond to such a new environment with creative and innovative instruments is of paramount importance for their sustainable development.
Our work focuses on researching Web3 technology, digital preservation of collective memory and history in conflict and post-conflict areas, and resilience of rule of law institutions and cultures in non-democratic regimes.
Enquiry: info.ril@proton.me