From 9 − 14 July 2012 the six-day workshop ’Designing for Ownership’ takes place at Strelka Institute in Moscow. The workshop is part of a series of Summer at Strelka workshops aimed at a practical change in the city’s microrayons. Our microrayon is called  Yuzhnoye Medvedkovo (south Medvedkovo).

This workshop aims to help create an actual long-lasting change for the better in an urban neighborhood in Moskow. This is done by bringing together creative workshop participants and various neighborhood stakeholders (citizens, local government, businesses, neighborhood organizations, and so on). The workshop aims to find out how these different people can communicate better with each other, by making a prototype for a product, an event, or a service that acts as a catalyst for conversation.

The workshop also aspires to create a methodology for activating citizens with the aid of digital media technologies that could also be applied elsewhere. How can we design a process that allows people to feel ‘ownership’ over their living circumstances, and actively participate in making their environment a better place?

On day one, introduction day, we met with the participants. Participants had received a workshop briefing (pdf) in advance. After we got to know each other, we presented an overview of the workshop’s aims and many examples of how digital media can be used to improve life in the city and to strengthen citizen engagement with their environment and each other. Below the presentation ‘Designing for Ownership: digital media and urban change’, by Michiel de Lange & Marc Tuters (2 MB).

Or check out the presentation on SlideShare: