Meso-level strategies for design participation and education : libraries as networked learning spaces

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>Design participation and education are important vehicles for building citizenship skills in democratic societies. However, there is a considerable gap between macro-level aims to include the civil society at large and Participatory Design (PD) methods to include citizens on the micro-level. Thus, we argue for meso-level approaches that would enable PD and education practitioners to build scalable methods of digital inclusion. We present the case of Virtual Library in Oulu City Library as a hands-on case study example in our workshop. In order to build scalable methods, we offer libraries as an example of a networked learning space to achieve this synergistically with an existing social and cultural service program, the public library system. We invite practitioners, educators and scholars from all backgrounds to explore, develop and critique meso-level approaches and networked learning spaces in their various cultural and national contexts of practice at this two-hour long workshop.</p></div>