Exploring the Entanglement of Participatory Design, Spatiality and Place

Over the last two decades, Participatory Design (PD) has expanded its scope towards the democratisation of design in diverse settings, embracing the entanglements of humans and non-humans in socio-material arrangements. Despite the foregrounding of relations in these entanglements, little attention has been given to what role spatiality and places may have in PD. This workshop explores the entanglement of participatory design, spatiality, technologies and places based on design cases from participants. Using a design charette methodology, participants will collaboratively (1) map how participatory entanglements shape and are shaped by design research and practice; (2) identify and unpack disciplinary tensions and opportunities; and (3) co-create a vision and action plan for bridging silos and fostering collaboration across disciplines. The aim is to build an interdisciplinary understanding of the intimate entanglement of humans and non-humans, spatiality and places in the complex social-material arrangements we engage with in PD.