Participation for Real: Who Decides?

Participation starts with an equal voice between all parties. Which voices are heard and translated into architectural design is a fundamental question when we shape the participatory process. We are always dealing with a mix of actors who position themselves in the market, government or among community players. This tripartite structure creates a power dynamic that does not always play out constructively.

With the conversation starter Three is a Crowd, we approach this triad not from opposite poles, but from different perspectives and value frameworks. Timelab Academy developed this in-depth tool based on the theoretical model of sociologists Adalbert Evers and Jean-Louis Laville, who wanted to give visibility to the importance of the third sector or civil society with their tripartite scheme in the early 2000s. This theoretical model was plotted by the Timelab Academy designers in collaboration with Kunstenpunt on Algirdas Julien Greimas' semiotic square, version by Donna Haraway.

In the workshop, as a group, you look for a supported value framework that is made up of propositions coming from the triangle. The result is not only an overview of cultural values but above all a conversation that has taken place in which the various actors gain insight into each other's position. What we can already pass on from our experience is that the value frameworks and operational positions of the actors do not always coincide. In other words: Representatives of the market might hold the values of the community, or community players might take the government position. It is in this complexity that reciprocity arises.

(illustration: Sofie De Cleene)