The Open Works research project aimed to test if a platform approach could scale up the new type of ‘participation culture’ that has emerged over the last 6 – 10 years. It aimed to discover if a high density of this type of micro participation activity, built into the fabric of everyday life, has the potential to aggregate and combine to achieve lasting long term change, both for individuals and for neighbourhoods.
Build it to test it
A small, living prototype system was built in order to test the idea and this was done in West Norwood, Lambeth, London, in 2014/15.
Lambeth Council and Civic Systems Lab formed The Open Works team to co-create a network of 20 practical projects with 1000 local residents. These projects were inspired by ideas from across the world that offered the potential to support a new and more sustainable way to live our everyday lives.
These 20 projects created new and engaging opportunities for sharing knowledge, spaces and equipment; for families to work and play together; for bulk cooking, food growing and tree planting; for trading, making and repairing and for suppers, workshops, incubators and festivals.
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
Why do we need a new participatory approach?
Build it to test it
Key findings
Next stage development
The challenge
Resilient places to support resilient people
Resilience as an integrative construct
Severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD)
What will living in a neighbourhood with a dense participatory ecology be like?
A universal vision
A focus on recovery resilience
A focus on sustainability resilience
PARTICIPATION MODELS AND LAB METHODOLOGIES
Wicked problems
Open Source Cities
Learning from participation culture
What is different about ‘participatory culture’
Participation models
How to build systems for participation
Understanding contextual challenges
The challenge of scale
The challenge of inclusivity
A Lab approach
Strategic approaches to research and evaluation
KEY DISCOVERIES AND NEXT STAGE DEVELOPMENT
Aims of the research
Preconditions – Key discoveries
Feasibility
Inclusivity
Value creation
Building an evidence-based system
Investment logic for Stage 2
Evidence base to be developed during Stage 2
Challenges
WHAT SCALING LOOKS LIKE
Scaling participation and outcomes
A vision for a participatory culture
An integrated ecosystem
Cooking and eating
Growing and energy
Making, repairing, sharing and trading
Learning and working
Families
ANALYSIS AND EMERGING FRAMEWORKS FOR SCALING
Feasibility
The Open Works platform
Collective impact for scaling
Collective investment for distributed outcomes
Inclusive and open digital participation
Smart metrics and measures
Learning frameworks
Inclusivity
The need for inclusivity
Expanding the scope of inclusivity
Designing in equality of access
What we learnt in Year 1
Increasing co-production for bridging and access
Emerging co-production taxonomy
Proximity as scaling strategy
Idea diffusion theory
Demographic data – Gender
Demographic data – Age
Demographic data – Ethnicity
Demographic data – Disability
Creating value
Compound outcomes frameworks
Outcomes data
Common high outcomes
Project specific outcomes
FOUNDATIONAL EVIDENCE
Introduction
Deep roots, new relevance
Understanding the complexity of human behaviour
A shifting policy landscape
Understanding autonomous citizen activity
Autonomous citizen activity and established organisations
Financing participation culture
The outcomes of autonomous citizen activity
What does density look like?
Systems insights
Research insights
Civic Systems Lab research
BUILDING THE OPEN WORKS
Building the infrastructure
The Open Works high street shop HQ
Incubation process
Designing a strategy with Theory of Change and Developmental Evaluation
Collaborative civic branding
Civic Proficiency
Building a local government and Lab team
Team skills
Perceptions of The Open Works from participants and staff in The Open Works
Changing roles at local level
Resources
PROJECT DIRECTORY
001 Trade School
002 The Great Cook
003 Potluck Suppers
004 Start Here
005 BeamBlock
006 Bzz Garage
007 Library of Things
008 The Joinery
009 Festival of Ideas
010 Open Orchard
011 Rock Paper Scissors
012 The Stitch
013 Out in the Open
014 Civic Incuabator
015 Play Works
016 Play Street
017 Department of Tinkerers
018 Collaborative Childcare
019 Public Office
020 West Norwood Soup
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND APPENDIX
