Participatory Imagin(eer)ing. Merge of the visual outcomes of different participatory workshops: Susanne Käser, research team.
Visualising the future of our cities
Project Objectives
In the interdisciplinary research project “Visual Communication in participatory urban planning processes” the research team investigates the relationship between social negotiations of different actors and the resulting visions of the future in the form of images.
Participatory workshops
Cities are home to people, organizations, and businesses with different interests and development priorities. We spoke to anthropologist Dr Aylin Tschoepe, and MA image researcher Susanne Käser, about their work in using an interdisciplinary approach to explore the possibility of enabling participation in urban planning processes through multi-authored images as a way of communicating future urban visions. Many urban development plans are illustrated through the use of highly realistic images to show how districts would be transformed under certain proposals. Professional image-makers produce such visualizations for architectural offices, urban developers, and administrators, to show how development plans would affect an urban landscape. However, forms of representation like architectural renderings must meet specific guidelines and comply with disciplinary conventions, and this can make them difficult to interpret for many external actors affected by the plans. This reduces the space for emancipatory participation processes and can leave some groups at risk of being excluded, an issue central to the project team at the Critical Icono-Ethnography Lab (www.cielab.ch). Dr Tschoepe and Mrs Käser are working on a project investigating the use of visual representations in urban planning processes. “Our intention in the project is to foster social negotiation, to better understand how participatory processes can take place, and to investigate what kind of images have the capacity to enable participation,” say the researchers.
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Visual Communication in Participatory Processes of Urban Planning
scope, with the team developing critical ‘iconoethnography’ as a methodology based on cultural anthropology and image design. Through this approach, the researchers are taking a fresh look at how the different parties involved in urban planning can engage with each other.
Participatory Imagin(eer)ing. Workshop May 18, 2019 in collaboration with CVP Basel-Stadt, Gewerbeverband BaselStadt, Mittelstands-Vereinigung Basel and Zukunft.Klybeck.
Urban planning processes The City of Basel is being used as a case study in the research. There is a legal framework to enable participation in urban planning processes, yet the understanding of what this means varies greatly between the different actors, from urban planners, to government bodies, to local residents. “Participation is interpreted differently in urban planning processes in Basel and ranges from very controlled to emancipatory forms of participation,” says Dr Tschoepe. The study of these forms of participation is therefore an important basis for further research, with the project focusing on two main considerations. The first of these is how an urban
centre and its possible future development is understood and negotiated through the creation of images, while, secondly, researchers are also looking at how those images are then used subsequently: “We’re investigating the alliances and narratives that emerge when different actors collaborate in Imagin(eer)ing Processes. We question hereby the hierarchizing of different types of knowledge.” Dr. Tschoepe and Mrs Käser consider imagining and imagineering as interwoven, hybrid practices that combine forms of expertise and knowledge that lie beyond normative assumptions: “Following this logic, we design and facilitate workshops with various participants and take into account their previous knowledge, experiences, and everyday practices in order to make these workshops more inclusive. From an anthropological and design perspective, we use our expertise to promote communication between diverse participants through the image, in its capacity as a carrier of imagin(eer)ed realities.” An image process called participatory imagin(eer)ing is central to helping different actors to engage with each other and shape the future of a city in a more inclusive, active way. The research project itself is interdisciplinary in
EU Research
One part of the project involves bringing together groups with different ideas about urban planning in participatory workshops, to both take part in the design of these images of urban futures and also debate issues arising from them. “Different parties come together in these workshops so that they can negotiate over their co-created images,” says Mrs Käser. The workshops are conducted as open interviews, where images are shared with the aim of identifying issues and questions relevant to the different actors. “In these interview settings, we aim to get to the core of the qualities that images must have in order to be participatory” says Ms Käser. “It’s not so much about creating an alternative planning document as getting to a point where people have a better understanding of other participants’ concerns when they leave the workshop and begin to think toward common futures,” explains Dr Tschoepe. Instead of a top-down approach, urban planning processes should be based on compromise to become more inclusive and allow city residents to participate and identify issues important to them. The team believes these participatory image processes can help open avenues forward in this respect. “The workshops are about a shared understanding of what is important for different stakeholders: the urban commons that we negotiate over on an everyday basis, whereby the images reflect conflict and compromise. A participatory image is always about including and listening to multiple voices and being open to different interpretations,” continues Dr Tschoepe. The images themselves are developed through multi-authorship, representing different viewpoints about the future of a space, from relatively minor shifts in a community to more radical ideas about the urban landscape. The researchers believe that if different, competing actors engage with each other in a meaningful way, it will encourage them to take an active role in shaping and envisioning the future of their city.
Possible further applications A visual communication method can help different actors to communicate effectively, appreciate other points of view, and identify what they value in city life. The project itself has been conducted in Basel, but the methods that have been developed could be applied in different settings and locales. “Our methods could also be
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Project Funding
The project is funded be the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF 100013_176459) http://www.snf.ch/en/Pages/default.aspx
Project Partners Participatory Imagin(eer)ing. Visualization of verbal narrations: Silvia Balzan, research team
adapted to other spatial contexts, such as smaller municipalities or the countryside,” continues Dr Tschoepe. Further workshops will be conducted, as the research team aims to address the challenges that have arisen over the course of the project, and also improve the processes that have been developed. “Currently we’re also working on a digital version of a collaborative space, where image-making processes enable participants to engage with each other virtually. We strive to understand how to navigate between virtual and embodied space.” she outlines. Social activities and interactions may look very different in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, another issue relevant to the project’s research. “What kinds of new socialities and participation will arise? How will they change the process of making the images?” asks Dr Tschoepe. This research is not just of academic interest, but also holds wider relevance to organisations such as planning departments, cultural institutions, local activist groups, or NGOs that thrive on participatory processes. The hope is to influence policy-making, and inspire architects and urban planners among others. “They could further adapt what we have developed, then shape it according to their own processes, and it could be applied in a variety of settings,” outlines Susanne Käser. The next step could be to test the project’s approach in other locations and put these findings on a firmer footing, which would be an important step towards wider application. One important issue is to find the ideal scale at which to develop this icono-ethnographic approach, which will depend on local circumstances. “We are interested in expanding and testing this approach in other physical and virtual spaces as well.” continues Dr Tschoepe. “Ideally, our efforts will inspire and be useful to a growing community engaged in emancipatory urban practices who can take over, change, and invent further inclusive design and social interaction processes.”
• FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Institute of Visual Communication, Basel, Switzerland https://www.fhnw.ch/en/about-fhnw/ schools/academy-of-art-and-design/ institutes/institute-of-visual-communication • University of Basel, Institute of Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology, Basel, Switzerland https://kulturwissenschaft.philhist.unibas. ch/de/home/
Research Team
MA Silvia Balzan (Academy of Art and Design Basel) silvia.balzan@fhnw.ch MA Susanne Käser (Academy of Art and Design Basel) susanne.kaeser@fhnw.ch Dr. Aylin Yildirim Tschoepe (University of Basel) aylin.tschoepe@unibas.ch
Project Management
Professor Michael Renner (Academy of Art and Design Basel) michael.renner@fhnw.ch Professor Ina Dietzsch (Philipps University of Marburg) ina.dietzsch@staff.uni-marburg.de
Contact Details
Susanne Käser Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Institut Visuelle Kommunikation Freilager-Platz 1 4002 Basel E: susanne.kaeser@fhnw.ch W: www.cielab.ch Dr. Aylin Tschoepe Seminar für Kulturwissenschaft und Europäische Ethnologie Universität Basel Rheinsprung 9/11 CH-4051 Basel E: aylin.tschoepe@unibas.ch W: www.cielab.ch
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