An increasing amount of cities are trying to increase civic engagement by using digital tools and platforms which gather data in a variety of ways on relevant topics within the city. Tools and platforms that focus on handling easy to fix issues on a local scale such as broken streetlights have been successfully implemented in cities already. In this paper a case study is described which aimed to retrieve data from citizens about a more complex local challenge in a neighborhood in Amsterdam. Furthermore, it has been investigated how the municipality could use the collected data as input for policy making. By making a participatory mapping mobile phone application available in a neighborhood, data was collected about places in the neighborhoods public space in which the citizens took pride and places that needed attention. This data is to be used as input for the area plan of the neighborhood. A first case-study with the application showed that even though there was low participation from the neighborhood, due to the high quality of the added data it was still valuable for the municipality.
Locative mapping with smartphones is the process of collecting geo data using mobile applications that tells something about a place, based on user input. Results are typically visualized using maps. Usually when such data is collected, the researcher is interested in more than just the location of a person. Perhaps the researcher would like to ask some questions, add a photo or make a voice recording. Questions such as what types of data you want to collect and with whom greatly influence how to design this data collection process. In this HowTo we aim to guide you through such a process and help you make the best decision what software is best for your project. We further elaborate on how such a data collection process can be paired with participatory methods to get a deeper level of understanding of the data collected.
From the article : "In this paper the implications of different research approaches and methods are illustrated by using two projects of the authors. Both projects take place in the same context: exploring participatory innovation within Small-to-Medium sized Enterprizes (SMEs). The main aspects coming forward when comparing the research characteristics of both projects are the importance of time and momentum, the structural set up of the project, people or participants and the abilities of the people involved. The research goal and the background of the researcher are main determinants for the chosen research methods. We hope with this paper to make researchers aware of the implications of the research methods and approach on the results of the project."
Om de ambities te behalen zoals geformuleerd in de Sustainable Development Goals, is transdisciplinaire samenwerking nodig tussen overheden, bedrijfsleven, burgers en wetenschap. Dit vraagt om multi-stakeholderbenaderingen waarin leren van en met elkaar centraal staat. Dit onderzoeksvoorstel is een vertaalslag van bovenstaande ambitie zoals geformuleerd in samenwerking met hoger onderwijs partners in Bandung, Indonesië. Het Living Lab Upper Citarum biedt een context om onderzoek te doen binnen een bestaand Living Lab gekenmerkt door de multi-stakeholder setting en de complexiteit van duurzaam beheer van natuurlijke hulpbronnen. Het onderzoek beoogt inzicht te verkrijgen in essentiële ‘21st century skills’ voor deelnemers met faciliterende rollen in een Living Lab. De onderzoeksstrategie wil een bijdrage leveren aan de duurzaamheidsagenda van Living Labs met het ontwerpen, het ervaren, reflecteren en documenteren van praktische interventies in de lokale context. De keuze voor werken op locatie is een eerste benadering in het creëren van een realistische leerervaring voor Living Lab facilitators met diverse achtergronden en valt daarmee te beschrijven als ‘learning by doing’. De algemene onderzoekvraag is als volgt geformuleerd: Which contemporary skills and capabilities are present and which need to be developed to establish a widely shared mind set for trans- or interdisciplinary strategies so that communities and institutions in a Living Lab configuration increase their performance? De onderzoeksstrategie krijgt vorm in een ‘21st century skills exploration’ die een experimentele leerruimte biedt aan medewerkers van diverse instituten en (overheids-)organisaties die actief zijn in het Living Lab om kennis te maken met de creatieve methodes voor publieke participatie. Dit vindt vooral plaats in interactie met lokale gemeenschappen met nadruk op creatieve methodes zoals een poetry route, participatory mapping en film. Na presentatie op locatie worden de resultaten gepresenteerd tijdens een mini-symposium in Bandung.