Participatory Design in Public Space

Implemented in 2021–22 as a Solidarity Project, funded by European Solidarity Corps (2020-3-EL02-ESC31-006557).

Recommended by the European Solidarity Corpse as good practice.

This project was based on a cooperation between our organization (social cooperative ‘Kavilia’) and a non-formal group of five young people – students in the University of the Aegean, School of Engineering, Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering. The project was built on the pedagogical principles of educational craft and the way these are transferred and practiced in educational ‘making’ workshops, producing collective methodologies for the design and production of (public) natural and social space. Kavilia had already (2019) cooperated with a local elementary public school (Hermoupolis, Syros) in the design and production of wooden models for a public-space intervention in our neighborhood (renovation of an old playground: construction of wooden benches, outdoor games, green spaces). We consider neighborhood actions a useful tool to connect local communities with issues that go beyond the local and require global solutions: consumption-management of natural resources, production, and consumption/ trade conditions in different parts of the world, ‘cultural’ resistance against all kinds of ‘monocultures’ through the preservation and evolution of traditional arts / professions etc. In that sense, our aim with this project was to introduce the philosophy of ‘Do It Yourself – Do It Together’ in the local island community in a context that promotes and empowers the production of collective intelligence – collective production and collective consumption in public space. On the other hand, we’ re aiming at the production of a local and non-formal learning environment that could offer practical-technical and entrepreneurship skills for self-sufficiency in material and social (re)production.

We had training and implementation activities of the project organised as follows:

1. Introduction (April–May 2021):
   1. Sustainable Building – Do It Yourself & Do It Together – The Maker Movement: a practical introduction,
   2. Materials and techniques,
   3. Machines & Tools.
2. Pilot constructions for testing phase A (June–August 2021): Relational objects as catalysts of change – objects to redefine coexistence in public and community space: design and production
3. Intervention in public space (September 2021 – March 2022): proposal and agreement with the municipality, on-site constructions based on a ‘one working group – one object’ concept: university students – elementary school children – nursery school children.

The project resulted in the:

1. Development of concrete skills and key life-long learning competences for participants: social and citizenship competence – entrepreneurship competence – technical competence in technology and handicrafts.
2. Production of community infrastructure and space, items and constructions aimed at public use for play, rest and recreation in the community.