I am currently the Lead Designer & Communities Coordinator for Participedia, and have worked with the project in various capacities since 2011.
Participedia is an open source, online platform (participedia.net) and international research community that harnesses the power of crowdsourcing to collect and share emerging knowledge about participatory democratic processes. The promise of Participedia is to connect activists, practitioners, and scholars around the world with the collective aim of exploring the meanings of new kinds of public participation and their transformative effects on contemporary governance. From its use as a teaching resource to its ability to quickly mobilize knowledge about emergent participatory initiatives in real time, Participedia has the potential to change the way we practice and learn about participatory democracy.
Through a participatory design research program undertaken largely by students, Participedia’s design and technology team discovered and addressed three key challenges. First, the project was initially established as top-down and closed in its approach to internal governance and website design, requiring a substantial shift to an open source ideology and practice. The new, open approach initiated by the design team increased opportunities for collaboration with global agents, including the Privy Council Office of the federal government of Canada, who discovered Participedia through our open source Github repository (github.com/participedia). Second, Participedia has many potential audiences with varied needs. The grant-funded research partnership consists of educators, students and practitioners from dozens of partner organizations worldwide. A rigorous academic agenda was evaluated, along with the needs of practitioners in the field. Finally, the design team addressed challenges of accessibility and inclusion, building a platform that is meaningful to audiences in the global south, while simultaneously reaching a wide public and enhancing Participedia's potential for crowdsourcing knowledge.
The design and technology team is comprised of undergraduate and graduate students from Emily Carr University of Art & Design, who operate out of the Studio for Extensive Aesthetics (SEA). Students contribute to the design and development of Participedia under the leadership of Emily Carr faculty member Amber Frid-Jimenez, Canada Research Chair and Director of SEA. The Participedia project was founded by principal investigator, Mark Warren of the University of British Columbia and co-investigator Archon Fung of Harvard University. Participedia is made possible by Partnership Grant funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The design and technology team is additionally supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. More information about our community of collaborators can be found on Participedia.net.
Participedia is an open source, online platform (participedia.net) and international research community that harnesses the power of crowdsourcing to collect and share emerging knowledge about participatory democratic processes. The promise of Participedia is to connect activists, practitioners, and scholars around the world with the collective aim of exploring the meanings of new kinds of public participation and their transformative effects on contemporary governance. From its use as a teaching resource to its ability to quickly mobilize knowledge about emergent participatory initiatives in real time, Participedia has the potential to change the way we practice and learn about participatory democracy.
Through a participatory design research program undertaken largely by students, Participedia’s design and technology team discovered and addressed three key challenges. First, the project was initially established as top-down and closed in its approach to internal governance and website design, requiring a substantial shift to an open source ideology and practice. The new, open approach initiated by the design team increased opportunities for collaboration with global agents, including the Privy Council Office of the federal government of Canada, who discovered Participedia through our open source Github repository (github.com/participedia). Second, Participedia has many potential audiences with varied needs. The grant-funded research partnership consists of educators, students and practitioners from dozens of partner organizations worldwide. A rigorous academic agenda was evaluated, along with the needs of practitioners in the field. Finally, the design team addressed challenges of accessibility and inclusion, building a platform that is meaningful to audiences in the global south, while simultaneously reaching a wide public and enhancing Participedia's potential for crowdsourcing knowledge.
The design and technology team is comprised of undergraduate and graduate students from Emily Carr University of Art & Design, who operate out of the Studio for Extensive Aesthetics (SEA). Students contribute to the design and development of Participedia under the leadership of Emily Carr faculty member Amber Frid-Jimenez, Canada Research Chair and Director of SEA. The Participedia project was founded by principal investigator, Mark Warren of the University of British Columbia and co-investigator Archon Fung of Harvard University. Participedia is made possible by Partnership Grant funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The design and technology team is additionally supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. More information about our community of collaborators can be found on Participedia.net.
PROJECT TEAM
Amber Frid-Jimenez, Design & Technology Team Lead & Art Director
Jesi Carson, Lead Designer & Communities Coordinator
Katherine Gillieson, Lead Graphic Designer
Stephan Garneau, Designer
Dethe Elza, Lead Developer
Andrea Del Rio, Designer & Developer
Alanna Scott, Developer
Sam Jiang, Designer & Developer
Kushal Goenka, Developer
Lydia Prince, Developer
David Ascher, Tech Lead
Patrick Scully, Managing Director
Scott Fletcher, Editor
Mark Warren, Co-Founder
Archon Fung, Co-Founder
Participedia is funded by the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada.
