Problematizing ‘participation’ in ‘public space’ [Summer School results]

The first TRADERS Summer School started with an official Kick-off at Z33, the 31st of September, when the results from the Training Week and first TRADERS exhibition were shown to all the participants.

The 1st of October we had a lecture from Ramia Mazé, who gave many insights and examples of ‘disruptive’ approaches to participatory practices in design, and guided the participants divided into 6 groups on a workshop during the afternoon. The 2nd of October Martijn De Waal gave a lecture on the ‘playful’ approach and guided the groups to finalize their proposals to ‘prototype’ in public space. The 3rd of October we had the morning to finalize our proposals and videos and in the afternoon organized a ‘public forum’ to show the results from the different projects realized and reflect on different issues dealt with during the past days.

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As there was a strong focus on ‘documentation’, guided by the project Backstories, the resulting outcomes are videos. The proposals ranged from (1)’direct intervention’ in the public space to a (2)new way of conceiving participatory practices in design through exchange, from (3)questioning the role of the designer in society to a (4)collaborative mapping exercise, and from a (5)performative dialogue that presented a ‘multi-vocal’ approach to design interventions to (6)questioning the need of designers to intervene in ‘public matters’.