Urban self-organising groups as users of digital artefacts:Nordic experiences

Abstract The aim of the article is to present and discuss the results of a qualitative meta-analysis of a series of explorative case studies on the use of digital artefacts by self-organised communities in Aarhus, Denmark and Helsinki, Finland. Drawing on a conceptual framework on participation in the design of information and communication technologies as well as in urban planning, we ask and answer the following questions: What are the digital artefact ecologies of self-organised communities and movements? What are the challenges that self-organised communities and movements face in relation to their information technology needs? And, how can co-governance with public-private- people partnerships support the digital needs of self-organising groups

Exploring e-planning practices in different contexts: Similarities and differences between Helsinki and Sydney

As planners and decision-makers experiment with information and communication technologies (ICTs), it's important to explore and analyze these attempts in different planning systems and contexts. The aim of the article is to compare the use of and aspirations attached to e-planning in Helsinki, Finland and Sydney, Australia. This comparison will highlight the interrelationship between planning context and its amenability to an e-planning approach and shows there are shared themes in both cases: firstly, the complexity involved in reconciling the aims of the e-planning experiments and their connection to the planning process itself (roles, objectives, implementation of tools and processes). Secondly, the way that e-planning opens up cracks in the façade of administration, and thirdly, the ways in which e-planning provides possibilities to reshape existing planning procedures. The authors argue that the different planning and governance contexts affect the adoption of e-planning and this adoption is necessarily a selective process

Untangling the mess of technological artifacts:investigating community artifact ecologies

Abstract Everyday communities seem to juggle their technology use largely through the contributions and knowledge brought by its members. This contrasts with work settings where there is a greater focus on strategic choices to acquire new technologies and competencies. We focus on how artifact ecologies are shaped in community settings by personal and community relationships, and on the methodological possibilities of understanding these communities for the purpose of design, and making informed technology choices in communities. We applied interview and visual mapping methods, before undertaking a ‘remapping’ process as part of our data analysis, thus contributing methodologically to the investigation of artifact ecologies at large and community artifact ecologies in particular. Theoretically, we extend the understanding of dynamics in artifact ecologies and highlight the ways these dynamics are shaped by the social interactions taking place, around technological artifacts, in everyday situations

Infrastructuring in PD:what does infrastructuring look like? when does it look like that?

Abstract In this hands-on workshop we invite the PD community to take stock of empirical insights and conceptual developments around the notions of infrastructure and infrastructuring. We propose that by leveraging the original relational nature of these concepts, we can revitalize the political soul of PD and better characterize the politics of participation in digitalization phenomena and processes ongoing in all walks of life. With a hands-on approach we will collectively and critically map, disentangle assumptions, identify blind spots and outline new research opportunities charting the possibilities and limitations of an infrastructuring approach in PD at large

Drawing together:infrastructuring and politics for participatory design

Introduction This e-zine documents the discussions and group work done at the ‘Infrastructuring in Participatory Design’ workshop, a full-day event that took place at the Participatory Design Conference 2018 in Hasselt and Genk, Belgium. Participants at the workshop came from a broad range of domains (e.g. Design, Science and Technology Studies, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Information Sciences, Architecture), representing interests in infrastructuring from multiple perspectives. The workshop invited the Participatory Design (PD) community to come together, with their cases or projects, questions and topics of interest in order to take stock of empirical insights and conceptual developments around the notions of infrastructure and infrastructuring, and their relevance to the revitalization of the political agenda of PD. Following a hands-on approach, participants — collectively and critically — mapped issues, disentangled assumptions, identified blind spots, and outlined new research opportunities charting the possibilities and limitations of an infrastructuring approach in Participatory Design at large. Participants at the workshop came from a broad range of domains (e.g. Design, Science and Technology Studies, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Information Sciences, Architecture), representing interests in infrastructuring from multiple perspectives. Prior to the workshop, participants were asked to 1) write a position statement and read everyone else’s position statements, 2) look at their own work in relation to the theme of the workshop to pick one artifact to bring to the workshop, 3) contribute to a collective compilation of research literature dealing with infrastructures and infrastructuring. With these activities, we together prepared issues, ideas, and concerns to work with in the workshop