Design Strategies for Deep Civic Engagement

Citizens engaged in a well-designed deliberative process can shape transformative futures that foster a sense of collective ownership of the vision that emerges. At its very best civic engagement, when done well, is a process of community empowerment. But often the future desired by individual stakeholders is significantly different than the reality in which they currently live, and therefore requires new learning and a commitment of their time and intellect to deep engagement in a collective process.

As planning and design professionals we are called upon to design the environment that can assist communities in the new learning required to adapt to a future vision. This project-based course aspires to present emerging planning and design professionals innovative design strategies with tools for deep civic engagement that move beyond theories of community inclusion and into the practice of deep engagement.

The course is presented in partnership with the City of Boston Planning and Development Agency under the leadership of Deputy Chief of Urban Design, Diana Fernandez Bibeau and will focus on the city’s current planning framework, Squares and Streets Initiative.

Goals of the project-based course:
To partner with the City of Boston Planning and Development Agency to assist in the development of new tools for civic engagement applied to the City of Boston’s Squares and Streets Initiative.

To gain exposure to real-world dynamics as community members navigate planned changes to their neighborhoods. Student teams will not be asked to facilitate these changes but instead to be integrated into existing professional teams from the City of Boston Planning and Development Agency.

To deepen our listening skills to better discern complex cultural histories, past harms due to public policy, and amplify under-valued neighborhood assets.

To reimagine the role of codes, guidelines, historical research, storytelling of marginalized histories, mapping, visualization, video communication and data presentation as tools for deep engagement.  

Semester Structure:
Classes will be a mixture of case study presentations on strategies for effective engagement, workshop preparatory meetings with planning and design professional teams at Boston City Hall, and attendance to at least one community-based Squares and Streets workshop event.

The Local Context:
Select neighborhoods currently engaged in planning process to implement Boston’s Squares and Streets Initiative will be the subject of the course as a living laboratory for innovation.