Supporting public participation through interactive

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Information Management, specialization in Geographic Information SystemsCitizen participation as a key priority of open cities, gives citizens the chance to influence public decision-making. Effectively engaging broader types of citizens into high participation levels has long been an issue due to various situational and technical constrains. Traditional public participation technologies (e.g. public hearing) usually are blame for low accessibility by the general public. The development of Information Communication Technology brings new methods to engage a broader spectrum of citizens in deeper participation level during urban planning processes. Interactive public displays as a public communication medium, hold some key advantages in comparison to other media. Compared to personal devices, public displays make public spaces into sociable places, where social communication and interaction can be enriched without intentionally or unintentionally excluding some groups’ opinions. Public displays can increase the visibility of public events while it is more flexible and up-to-date regarding showing information. Besides, they can also foster a collective awareness and support group behavioral changes. Moreover, due to the public nature of public displays, they provide broad accessibility to different groups of citizens. Public displays have a great potential in bringing new opportunities to facilitate public participation in an urban planning process. In the light of previous work on public displays, the research goal is to investigate a relatively new form of citizen participation known as Public Display Participation. This participation form refers to the use of public displays for citizen participation in the context of urban planning. The main research question of the thesis is how public displays can be used for facilitating citizen consultation in an urban planning process. First, a systematic literature review is done to get an understanding of the current achievements and gaps of research on public displays for public participation. Second, an elicitation study has been conducted to design end user centered interactions with public displays for citizens’ consulting activities. Finally, we run a usability to evaluate the usability of public displays for citizen consultation and their user experience. The main contributions of this thesis can be summarized as: (1) the identification of key challenges and opportunities for future research in using public displays for public participation in urban contexts; (2) two sets of user-defined gestures for two sets of user-defined phone gestures and hand gestures for performing eleven consulting activities, which are about examining the urban planning designs and giving feedback related to design alternatives, are also identified. (3) a new approach for using public displays for voting and commenting in urban planning, and a multi-level evaluation of a prototypical system implementing the proposed approach. Designers and researchers can use the contributions of this thesis, to create interactive public displays for supporting higher public participat i.e. citizen collaboration and empowerment

Proposition d'un modèle de processus pour les affichages publics adaptatifs supportant la participation citoyenne

National audienceIn recent years, public displays have been studied as a way to foster citizen participation. However, their surroundings and users are prone to high variability, which makes it tedious to accommodate different contexts with an optimal participation experience. In this paper, we propose adaptive public displays as a lead for solution in tackling this issue. From a review of the motivators and barriers affecting citizen's interaction with public displays we defined a process model destined to serve as a guide for designers of such systems.Au cours des dernières années, les affichages publics ont été étudiés comme moyen d'encourager la participation citoyenne. Cependant, leur environnement et leurs utilisateurs sont sujets à une grande variabilité, ce qui rend fastidieuse l'adaptation à différents contextes en conservant une expérience de participation optimale. Dans cet article, nous proposons les affichages publics adaptatifs comme piste de solution à ce problème. A partir d'une revue des motivations et des barrières qui affectent l'interaction des citoyens avec les affichages publics, nous avons défini un modèle de processus destiné à servir de guide aux concepteurs de tels systèmes

Proceedings of the International Workshop on EuroPLOT Persuasive Technology for Learning, Education and Teaching (IWEPLET 2013)

"This book contains the proceedings of the International Workshop on EuroPLOT Persuasive Technology for Learning, Education and Teaching (IWEPLET) 2013 which was held on 16.-17.September 2013 in Paphos (Cyprus) in conjunction with the EC-TEL conference. The workshop and hence the proceedings are divided in two parts: on Day 1 the EuroPLOT project and its results are introduced, with papers about the specific case studies and their evaluation. On Day 2, peer-reviewed papers are presented which address specific topics and issues going beyond the EuroPLOT scope. This workshop is one of the deliverables (D 2.6) of the EuroPLOT project, which has been funded from November 2010 – October 2013 by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission through the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLL) by grant #511633. The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate Persuasive Learning Objects and Technologies (PLOTS), based on ideas of BJ Fogg. The purpose of this workshop is to summarize the findings obtained during this project and disseminate them to an interested audience. Furthermore, it shall foster discussions about the future of persuasive technology and design in the context of learning, education and teaching. The international community working in this area of research is relatively small. Nevertheless, we have received a number of high-quality submissions which went through a peer-review process before being selected for presentation and publication. We hope that the information found in this book is useful to the reader and that more interest in this novel approach of persuasive design for teaching/education/learning is stimulated. We are very grateful to the organisers of EC-TEL 2013 for allowing to host IWEPLET 2013 within their organisational facilities which helped us a lot in preparing this event. I am also very grateful to everyone in the EuroPLOT team for collaborating so effectively in these three years towards creating excellent outputs, and for being such a nice group with a very positive spirit also beyond work. And finally I would like to thank the EACEA for providing the financial resources for the EuroPLOT project and for being very helpful when needed. This funding made it possible to organise the IWEPLET workshop without charging a fee from the participants.

Demographic Transformation and the Future of Museums

In 2009 the Center for the Future of Museums commissioned Betty Farrell to produce a report to explore in more detail the demographic trends in American society and their implications for museums. The report identifies, synthesizes, and interprets existing research on demographics, cultural consumer attitudes, museum diversity practices, and related topics. It is meant to help the museum field explore the future of museums in a "majority minority" society. Topics of inquiry include national demographic projections for the next 25 years with a focus on the shifting racial and ethnic composition of the United States; current patterns of museum attendance (and cultural participation more generally) by race, ethnicity, cultural origin and other relevant factors; culturally/ethnically specific attitudes towards museums, including perceptual and behavioral barriers to museum attendance; ways that museums currently reach out to diverse audiences; specific models and best practices; and larger trends in societal attitudes towards racial and other classifications

Watershed - A Transdisciplinary Social Design Process Applied to an Environmental Issue

Wicked problems are often vast, complex, and difficult to navigate. Often used in dealing with social design issues, the term wicked is intended to connote a problem that is difficult to define and solve rather than its moral implications.1 These problems, like watershed maintenance and pollution mitigation, involve an entwined community of diverse players, intricate systems, and ever-changing terrain. Because of their pluralistic nature, these problems can seem impossible to solve and even impossible to understand. This requires a collective approach and new ways of thinking to create better understanding and solutions. Important changes occur when citizens are knowledgeable, see their connection to the whole, and feel empowered to take action.;As the problems facing society grow more complex, designers have evolved to find applications for the design process across a variety of disciplines. A transdisciplinary approach allows for a community-based model that creates solutions to complex problems based on strategic outcomes rather than product development. This approach uses a system of solutions working together to address problems that are multi-dimensional. Historically, graphic designers are often tasked with creating a call to action. The failure in this approach is that it leaves the responsibility of that action with the audience. As designers, we should not only ask for action but facilitate action in ways that empower our audience. It is critical that we provide a context to educate our audience so they better understand the issue and develop a better attitude to take effective action.;My thesis focuses on the complex pollution issues that threaten the health of the Deckers Creek Watershed. Deckers Creek is a tributary of the Monongahela River. It flows west towards Morgantown from Arthurdale, West Virginia. Deckers Creek is a scenic waterway that has suffered a long history of abuse and environmental degradation. It presents a complex set of problems that requires the collaborative approach involving a community of diverse professional disciplines, public agencies, and concerned citizens. By drawing on multiple influences and past experiences, I created a transdisciplinary and a community-centered design approach that was relevant to the issues surrounding watershed pollution.;This project used design methods and products to ask visitors to understand how their personal attitudes and actions are connected to the health of their environment. The goal was to create an educational exhibition surrounding the challenges to improve the watershed, stimulate a call to action, and raise peoples\u27 interest in community intervention and action. The cornerstone of the project is CreekDog , an interactive responsive web site that allows citizens to report and track pollution issues throughout the watershed. CreekDog was created to educate and empower citizens to take an active role in improving their communities by protecting their environment. In addition, the exhibition also included environmental interpretive signage, a portable interactive kiosk, and educational information graphics. Designed in collaboration with local non-profit, Friends of Deckers Creek (FODC), these pieces became tools that continued to educate the public through public outreach efforts after the exhibition. 1 Understanding Wicked Problems, ac4d: Austin Center for Design, http://www.ac4d.com/home/philosophy/understanding-wicked-problems, (accessed May 13, 2004)

EXPLORING THE USE OF IMMERSIVE NARRATIVES FOR SOCIAL AWARENESS: GENDER EQUALITY

O foco deste estudo é explorar o potencial das narrativas imersivas para debater a consciência social no contexto do teatro imersivo site-specific. A pesquisa implementa uma abordagem qualitativa combinando métodos de design baseados em artes e grupos focais com técnicas de Storytelling. O objetivo é examinar como os jovens adultos percebem a desigualdade de gênero por meio da narrativa imersiva e como isso pode influenciá-los a se comprometer com a justiça social.The focus of this study is to explore the potential of immersive narratives to debate social awareness in the context of site-specific immersive theatre. The research deploys a qualitative approach combining arts-based and focus group design methods with storytelling techniques. The aim is to examine how young adults perceive gender bias through immersive storytelling and how this can help their state and commit to social justice and equality