Asja Aulisio and Silvia Barbero
The article outlines a collaborative approach to foster a democratic, data-driven learning process between local actors and technical experts, the latter particularly referring to systemic designers, while promoting the implementation of policy strategies for enhancing territorial assets. The adopted approach within the research is applied to a case study of a European project focused on interregional cooperation, examining the interactions between policymakers, technical experts from the design discipline, and stakeholders. The aim is to generate systemic insights not imposed from above but developed through participatory processes, boosting co-creation and facilitating the formulation of systemic interventions for policy strategies rooted in the characteristics of different territorial contexts involved. Furthermore, the paper explores how this collaborative approach can be strengthened using data to understand territorial complexity and boost relational dialogues.
The data-driven analyses conducted led to the development of a set of visual elaborations of the interconnections between territorial assets, data, and information developed by a technical team of researchers and local actors. The research ensures that decision-making is grounded in empirical evidence and contextualised knowledge, which promotes a more adaptive and systemic approach to policy formulation and implementation. In this research context, relationality and positionality are introduced concerning stakeholder interactions, highlighting the necessity of a more respectful and conscious approach. Thus, avoiding an interventionist logic that assumes the ability to transform the context from within is crucial. Instead, the focus is on learning about the existing system, acknowledging the challenges to be addressed, and the opportunities to be leveraged. This reflection is particularly significant because, despite the theoretical principles of systemic design advocating for collaboration and integration, its practical application may sometimes legitimise overly intrusive interventions, potentially leading to a colonialist mindset.
Keywords: systemic design, participatory approach, decision-making, stakeholder engagement