Components for Scaling Participatory Systems

To effectively scale large practical participation ecosystems through the Participatory City approach, six essential components need to be in place (see Figure 7). They include vision, context, learning architecture, school, resources, and evidence. These elements cover the components of local conditions and dynamics, and the necessary infrastructure at the city and national levels. Additionally, three cross cutting dynamics and activities have been identified as vital to successful growth and development. These include building strong relationships and networks of learning and support, coordination and pulling together of all the components, and building the Participatory City narrative through communication and storytelling.

1. Vision: Each city has a vision of its future. These are often visibly led and communicated by government and institutions, but they are also expressed by people on how they would like to live, work, and play together. A strong and cohesive vision is needed at all levels to develop bold initiatives through this approach.

2. Context: Local conditions can strongly influence the possibility of developing practical participation ecosystems in cities. Political will and leadership, including underlying dynamics, the social, economic and environmental imperatives and needs of a city, and cultural and social factors all combine to influence the desirability, viability and probability that a systemic innovation of this scale will develop in a local context.

3. Learning Architecture: Materials in different formats and curriculum enable the development and implementation of local participation ecosystems. Learning resources are designed to support the progression towards an in-depth understanding of the Participatory City approach. From frameworks to practical skills, over time they build the necessary capacity for co-creating these new systems directly with the people living in the neighbourhoods of cities. The curriculum enables the progression of learning by starting with awareness of the Participatory City approach, growing and deepening the understanding, and ultimately gathering the necessary support, networks and resources to implement the initiatives. The learning architecture currently spans from online workshop courses for city leaders, to immersive experiential courses for practitioners, to resident peer-to-peer learning academies, and to masters courses.

4. School: The Here&Now School of Participatory Systems and Design has a national learning and development focus. It includes Learning Campuses that are the deep Participatory City implementations that act as demonstration sites for building the large scale practical participation ecosystems. Both the global, national and city level elements of the school support the learning infrastructure for building these systems and change capacity in any city. The more locally this knowledge is embedded and accessed, the stronger and quicker the approach will be established. The Here&Now School helps diffuse the knowledge and practices of the Participatory City approach through the network of Learning Campuses and strong partnerships developed with each city. The network Figure 7 - Top six essential components for scaling the Participatory City approach

contributes and creates spaces for new communities, partners, and individuals to build capacity and knowledge while sharing the emerging field of practice with others.

5. Resources: People capital and financial resources are critical for ensuring the right levels of expertise and teams are in place to co-create the Participatory City approach and develop the practical participation ecosystems within each city. These also form the platform of social infrastructures needed, including networks, spaces and projects.

6. Evidence: Every city that joins the Participatory City network contributes evidence and research towards the feasibility, inclusivity, value creation, systemic integration and adaptability of the Participatory City approach. Measurement, and the collection of evidence to demonstrate impact, is vital for growing the approach in Canada. Strong evaluation results will encourage public and private investment to create the foundation for the long term financial sustainability of

Participatory City.