Co-design is an innovative tool for opening cultural institutions up to the public. But how is it done? Find out about three methods tested by BAM!
Over recent years cultural institutions have been discovering the importance of actively involving the public, welcoming ideas and sharing their decision-making power. This is called co-design. It is a tool that can bring about major innovations within the institutions that implement it.
How is co-design done? There is good practice in place, but it is still open to experimentation. We’re going to tell you about three completely different methods.
1) Workshops
Local culture professionals, businesspeople and young people around a table
The local area is often already home to numerous people with visions and skills able to modernise the cultural offer. They simply have to be brought together around the same table.
This is precisely what a co-design workshop involves: inviting professionals from the cultural sector, businesspeople and young people to share their experiences and skills, working towards a common objective.
Three days of structured activities, during which the participants draw up sustainable and feasible proposals assisted by the presence of experts and facilitators.
Il Parco delle idee: progettazione partecipata al Parco Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei
Do you want to find out more? Il Parco delle idee is an excellent example! We’re in Naples at the moment to attend the workshop we organised alongside the Parco Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei. The aim is to improve accessibility to the local cultural heritage. A wonderful challenge!
Follow the participatory planning process and find out what the tables come up with from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 November. Updates on Twitter and Facebook!
2) The creative marathon
Teamwork at the museum to come up with a prototype
Can a hackathon take place at a museum? Of course! The creative marathon is a fun format. Divided into teams, the participants work together to create a functioning prototype. The objective: to find brand new solutions for promoting the museum collection.
It’s open to professionals, students, nerds and creatives of every kind. Each team takes on a challenge linked to the museum where the marathon is being held. But take note! Time is limited and the prototype will undergo a final crash test… will it work or won’t it?
BAM! promoted the launch of Museomix Italia, introducing Italian institutions to the format that has brought the creative marathon to museums. Two Museomixes were held in Italy on the weekend of 8-10 November 2019: in Ancona and Florence.
Follow every phase of the remix process and enjoy the crash test. Look through the Instagram stories posted by @bamstracult. Museomix around the world: follow the marathons that took place at the same time across the world by searching for the #museomix hashtag.
3) The local network
A local network regenerates the neighbourhood following eighteen months of participatory planning
Some regions present complex challenges, with age-old, deep-rooted problems. In cases like these, co-design can be an effective weapon for rethinking these situations. A long, intricate procedure, which involves a large number of players with different vocations.
Typically a co-design process such as this is divided into two phases: an initial phase for setting up the network, training and collecting data, and a second phase that involves the actual planning work.
Open Vicoli is already in the second phase of its development and presented a city itinerary co-designed by the network during the weekend of 8-10 November. Developed to try to bridge the social divides in Genoa’s streets by promoting the wealth of local heritage, Open Vicoli is a network that already involves twenty partners… and is still growing!
There was a party in the streets of Genoa with Tutti a Prè on Saturday 9 November and we were there too!
Watch the video on the first nine months of the project.
