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Participation Week

22. to 26. November 2021

How can participation be encouraged? How can participatory research and development processes be designed? What could be the long-term impacts of the new forms of postdigital participation that have established themselves in virtual spaces since 2020? These are just some of the questions that have become even more relevant for society and research as a result of the corona pandemic.

Participation is a central term of the Leibniz ScienceCampus - Postdigtal Participation - Braunschweig. The third annual campus event examined this concept from different perspectives. We engaged in conversations with citizens, scientists, and practice partners and invited to participate in our diverse event activities.

The event was conducted virtually, it was open to the public and free of charge.

 

 

PROGRAM

Paticipation Week

Mo / 22.11. / 16-18

Per Ole Uphaus1, Harald Rau1

 

1Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Institut für Medienmanagement

The continuous digitization exerts considerable pressure on local and regional news providers. They are losing readers and therefore reach. From there, the advertising circulation spiral only goes downward. The reason for this is usually the reference to online competition, although it has been proven, especially for German-speaking countries, that market-related changes in regional media were already empirically verifiable before the advance of the Internet. In this context, location-based services (LBS) can be seen as a key technology for business model innovations. However, the results of a 2019 focus group conversation with journalists and editorial managers reveal that respondents primarily associate LBS with advertising and marketing purposes, but not with the potential to enrich local news. The panel centers on a focus group discussion with journalists and editorial managers in which the potential of location-based participatory communication for business model innovation in local journalism is discussed.

 

Di / 23.11. / 10-11:30

Dima Meiqari1, Olaf Mumm1

 

1Institute for Sustainable Urbanism Sp.A.C.E Lab., Technische Universität Braunschweig

Noise is a major problem in many German cities. Continuous noise above 55 dB at night and 65 dB during the day has a negative impact on the health of those affected. Socially disadvantaged people often live in neighborhoods or streets that are particularly affected by noise. Beyond social issues, noise also has economic consequences, e.g., land along heavily trafficked roads is only available for development to a limited extent, and in new construction projects, technical/structural solutions for noise mitigation often have to be implemented to ensure healthy living and working conditions. This leads to higher construction costs and therefore to higher rents. Based on the European Environmental Noise Directive (Directive/2002/49/EC), noise action plans are developed and adopted by cities. This involves developing implementable measures for the reduction of noise, which are updated every five years in coordination with the affected public. How could a participatory format be designed to allow residents to become part of the process. Technology can be used to check the own living or working environment for noise emissions and to collect information for urban development and noise reduction planning. In an exchange with citizens, individual perceptions and experiences of noise in the city are to be made perceptible and discussed.

 

Di / 23.11. / 15-17

Dagmar Meyer1

 

1 Institut für Elektrische Anlagen und Automatisierungstechnik, Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften

"We don't have to ask whether the elderly are ready for the Internet, but rather if the Internet is ready for the elderly." This statement by Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Ursula Lehr, former Federal Minister and Honorary Chair of the Federal Association of Senior Citizens' Organizations (BAGSO), expresses what the Commission of Experts also calls for in the Eighth Report on Ageing - Older People and Digitization: Digital participation of older people requires the design and development of adequate user interfaces for digital systems of all kinds.

The goal of the planned workshop is to elaborate important aspects for the design of human-computer interfaces for this target group based on selected scenarios. The focus should not only be on possible age-related motor or sensory limitations. Rather, wishes and preferences, but also obstacles are to be worked out using practical demonstration examples. This will take place in the area of conflict between people with an affinity for technology and those involved in its development and older people or people professionally involved in the care of older people, which means that surprising, innovative and creative ideas can be expected.

Mi / 24.11. / 13-14

Katharina Poltze1und Felicitas Macgilchrist1, 2

 

Georg-Eckert-Institut – Leibniz-Institut für internationale Schulbuchforschung, ² Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Other than schools, there are many extracurricular places where children and young people can learn, develop relevant skills and gain experiences. In addition to museums, artistic institutions, and historical (educational) sites; makerspaces, FabLabs, digital labs, and others are increasingly becoming (postdigital) learning and educational sites that also collaborate with educational institutions. Due to the structural conditions of schools, however, there is not only great potential, but also challenges in the collaboration for all actors involved.

But what are the differences between 'schools' and 'out-of-school spaces'? What makes for successful cooperation between them? What are the 'conditions for success' of a successful cooperation? What actually is a successful participation of diverse participants in the very different educational contexts? And what are the educational potentials in the field of extracurricular (post)digital education?

We would like to address such exciting questions and topics in this one-hour format as part of the Participation Week of the Leibniz ScienceCampus - Postdigital Participation. We would like to invite all interested parties to the event in order to engage in a conversation with employees of very different extracurricular learning and educational venues. The goal is to open up a space to hear about their experiences and share ideas and perspectives.

Mi / 24.11. / 18-19:30

Susanne Robra-Bissantz1, Pascal Abel1, Felix Becker1, Inga Stang1 und Timo Strohmann1

 

1 WI2: Wirtschaftsinformatik - Informationsmanagement, Technische Universität Braunschweig,

Every project, every association, every citizen with a good idea for how to collectively and participatively shape the common living space in a better way is confronted with the problem of how to motivate people to join in and then keep them together in the long run. How is it possible that everything works out wonderfully and that in the end a more livable campus, a sustainable community garden, or places and oases in the city that are valuable for all citizens could be created by working together? What might have been missing when too few interested parties and doers were found, when initial successes end in disputes or peter out? This is what we want to find out in our contribution, with a wide variety of projects, associations and/or interested citizens. Together, we want to come up with recommendations for action for anyone who wants to make a difference in their living space from the bottom up.

Do / 25.11. / 12-13

Per Ole Uphaus1 und Harald Rau1

 

1 Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Institut für Medienmanagement

https://www.postdigitalparticipation.org/ausblick/postdigital-lunch-10

 

Do / 25.11. / 14-15

Tanja Heuer1, Linda Münch2 und Dennis Niewerth3

 

1 Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Institut für Information Engineering, 2 Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Fakultät Soziale Arbeit, 3 Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte

The project: "Kulturelle Teilhabe im Museum – Potenziale der Digitalisierung" (Cultural Participation in Museums - Potentials of Digitization) aims at strengthening participation opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities in museums. A participatory research approach is being pursued in order to be able to concretely incorporate needs and wishes into the process of development. In order to make a museum tour particularly exciting, varied and needs-oriented, the current approach is to develop interactive experience tours as an example for the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. For this purpose, we are particularly interested in what kind of mediation concepts (quizzes, search and find, riddles, puzzles, assignments and much more) are suitable for people with intellectual disabilities in this context. Our focus is to analyze which mediation concepts can be specifically helpful for the target group. Building on the results of initial studies, we would like to engage in a discussion format with the target groups, the general public, and campus members on how people with intellectual disabilities can be successfully involved in the transfer from analog to digital. In addition, due to the large spatial distance of the various project participants, there is a need to find further opportunities for exchange, coordination and communication.

Campus Day

Fr / 26.11. / 9-18

Fr / 26.11. / Session 1

Felicitas Macgilchrist1, 4, Katharina Poltze1, Alexa Kreissl² und Nina Grünberger3

 

Georg-Eckert-Institut – Leibniz-Institut für internationale Schulbuchforschung, Institut für Architekturbezogene Kunst, TU Braunschweig, ³ Zentrum für Lerntechnologie und Innovation, PH Wien, 4 Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Participatory research methods enable researchers to work directly and 'bottom-up' with different societal actors to achieve research goals and shape societal processes in our postdigital world. However, the question of how such participatory research and development processes can be designed, especially in educational contexts, is quite open.

In the explicitly participatory ÖHA! project, Nina Grünberger worked with various project and practice partners to address a range of issues in the area of digitization and sustainability and designed teaching and learning materials to raise awareness of ecologically responsible (media) behavior in schools and beyond. Through this project, participants initiate a discussion: What can participation mean in different (research and thematic) contexts? And how can it be facilitated with very different actors and within (very) structured educational contexts?

 

Fr / 26.11. / Session 2

Susanne Robra-Bissantz1, Pascal Abel1, Felix Becker1, Inga Stang1 und Timo Strohmann1

 

1 WI2: Wirtschaftsinformatik - Informationsmanagement, Technische Universität Braunschweig

The two projects "Menschen, digitale Intelligenz & Wiederverwertung –gemeinsam Stadtleben gestalten" (People, Digital Intelligence & Recycling - Shaping City Life Together) and "Participation Companion: A Virtual Companion to Support Civic Participation" deal with the topic of (also) digitally supported participation. In both projects, the question arises, among others, as to how citizens can be (also) digitally motivated to an active, long-term and sustainable cooperation for the improvement of city life. Both projects are being researched, at least in sub-projects, according to the paradigm of Design Science Research, i.e. design-oriented research.

The panel brings together experts who have different knowledge regarding digitally supported motivation to jointly generate ideas for the design cycles of the projects in a moderated discussion. In order to be able to include insights from practice and thus the view of citizens and existing projects, this view will be represented by a panelist with recourse to the findings of the Participation Week session. The goal is to bring together the different theories and concepts from the existing knowledge base in such a way that a future digital participation platform or a participation companion can build on them.

Fr / 26.11. / Session 3

Philipp Deny1, Tanja Heuer2, Linda Münch3, Marvin Priedigkeit1 und Andreas Weich1

 

Georg-Eckert-Institut – Leibniz-Institut für internationale Schulbuchforschung, 2Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Institut für Information Engineering3 Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Fakultät Soziale Arbeit

In participatory research projects, people from different areas of life and work are involved in different roles and with different possibilities of influence and balance of power. A frequently formulated requirement for good participatory research is to make this transparent to all participants and to jointly reflect on the consequences for the research process. At the same time, it is not trivial to clearly outline the backgrounds, roles and balance of power conceptually, to name them in a conceptually comprehensible way and to represent their concrete relations to each other.

The Campus Day will therefore offer an exchange about these challenges and the formulation of possible solutions. The aim is to initiate a further step towards a common understanding with regard to the conception and representation of participation structures, both in internal communication and in public relations and public discussion. On the other hand, the panel aims at explaining similarities and differences in the composition and conceptual involvement of different stakeholders. The considerations from the "PartNet-Diskussionspapier: Beteiligte an Partizipativer Gesundheitsforschung" (PartNet, 2021) serve as a basis for the discussions.

Fr / 26.11. / Session 4

Per Ole Uphaus1 und Harald Rau1

 

1 Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Institut für Medienmanagement

People with an affinity for the Internet receive so much content in their personal timelines via news aggregators and social networks on a daily basis that they are often unable to identify the originator or assess the quality. A lot of information is also misleading or deliberately false (fake news), so you don't know which content you can trust. The reputation principle implemented on the Cluster platform addresses this problem. The sender's reputation is openly visible and is included as an additional currency to ensure quality: If a person publishes content with false information, he or she risks immediate loss of reputation. In the postdigital age, social communication needs new and participatory routines, and the Campus Day participants can use this example to discuss how this can be achieved.