La Nuova Fabbrica del Programma, Incontra - 2021
A participatory initiative supporting the mayor campaign before the elections in Bologna. As a service designer specializing in the built environment, I worked as a consultant specifically contributing to the final two workshops designing activities and tools that would facilitate meaningful engagement and effective outcomes.
The elections for the mayor of the city of Bologna were held on 3 and 4 October 2021
Participatory design | Service design
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The Nuova Fabbrica del Programma (New manifesto factory) aimed to engage a wide array of community members in writing an election programme from the bottom up, starting from the needs of citizens and the opportunities offered by the territory.
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The New Programme Factory initiative has been a collaborative effort involving various stakeholders, including associations, social networks, researchers, and individual citizens. Over 35 meetings were held, bringing together 80 coordinators across 12 thematic tables, generating more than 1,000 proposals. This extensive groundwork set the stage for the final two workshops, which aimed to refine and operationalize these proposals.
Different opportunities for everyone
My consultancy focused on the last two workshops, where I collaborated with a dedicated team to design and implement necessary activities and supports to deepen the previously identified and prioritised challenges.
In the months leading up to the final workshops, the project team carried out activities to listen and collect proposals and challenges, categorized into thematic tables by neighborhood. Based on the data and the candidate's political line, these proposals were prioritised and four specific focus areas were identified: environmental, educational, economic and social.
With my intervention on the second phase, each previously collected challenge was examined from the perspectives of various categories of citizens, including those less represented at the workshop, which helped refine the proposals.
These challenges were tackled within specific districts, with strategic locations and actions being identified.
THOUGHTS ON A CHALLENGE:
True inclusivity in participatory design
While participatory activities like those in the Nuova Fabbrica del Programma (New manifesto factory) are designed to be inclusive and open to all citizens, the reality often falls short. We observed that these activities tend to attract a specific demographic—mainly those involved in associations, research, or entertainment. Young people and migrant citizens, for instance, were notably underrepresented.
This underrepresentation highlights a critical challenge in participatory design: ensuring that the voices of all community members are heard, not just those who are present. True participatory planning must go beyond the engagement of the usual participants to actively seek out and include the perspectives of non-participants.
Creating Citizens’ Personas for these invisible communities was a last-minute solution that helped us to get people to think about priorities other than their own, to reduce prejudice against certain categories and, thanks to the children's perspective, to include a vision for the future.
A key insight I have gained is that there is a need for strong design of conditions that can broaden participation: shared engagement strategies, including community venues and activities that are most frequented by the people you want to reach; the creation of inclusive environments where participants feel free to express their ideas; and feedback mechanisms that can explain the reasons for participation or disinterest.
The goal is not only to make those who participate feel involved but also to bring the voices of non-participants to the table, ensuring that planning is genuinely fair and inclusive. This is essential for creating policies and plans that truly reflect the needs and aspirations of the entire community.
Broaden the perspective on all the community
“I often participate in these workshops but I have never done it putting myself in the shoes of a young NEET*, things come out that I wouldn’t have thought of.”
Despite the public nature of the events, we noticed a recurring demographic of participants—primarily individuals linked to associations, education, research, or entertainment sectors. Efforts were made to incorporate the perspectives and needs of underrepresented groups, including young people and migrants. Citizens' Personas: These tools, based on the Eurisko Institute's behavioral models, helped visualize hypothetical community representatives, enabling realistic scenario planning and intervention design.
*NEET: Not in Employment, Education, or Training
THE OUTPUT
The workshops resulted in a mapping of the city's challenges, which were summarised and reflected in the mayoral candidate's manifesto.
The programme focused on addressing the health and social challenge, the climate and environmental challenge and finally the employment challenge.
The points that emerged as key to addressing these challenges are the link with the university and research institutes, the position of the municipality as an active player and promoter of initiatives in the area, and the creation of alliances with other institutions such as the region and neighbouring municipalities.
“This programme will make Bologna the most progressive city in Italy”
Working on the Nuova Fabbrica del Programma has been an enriching experience. It demonstrated the power of participatory design in politic and urban development and highlighted the importance of inclusive engagement. The insights and strategies developed through this initiative will continue to inform and inspire future collaboration between citizens and public administration, driving towards a more equitable and vibrant urban future.
The Nuova Pabbrica del Programma was an initiative of INCONTRA BOLOGNA, a movement of citizens who, combining activism and passion, decided to network for the future of Bologna.
