Voorbij Bottom Up!

Making Space for Collaboration

Participation has long been understood as citizens displaying bureaucratic behavior. In the Netherlands, however, a reversal has been visible for a few years now. Governments are connecting with the energy and activities of citizens. A design approach offers a liberating framework for civil servants, administrators, and residents who want to move towards cooperation based on equality, beyond coercive control (top-down) and often non-binding citizen initiatives (bottom-up). The Municipality of Amsterdam and De Nacht Club use a design approach to ensure a space where this type of cooperation can emerge: not top-down, not bottom-up, but working together for a common purpose. During this afternoon session, we will learn and experience together the role that social design can play in creating equal cooperation. Experiences from Amsterdam and other cases will be shared in a pop-up exhibition. Professor of Transdisciplinary Innovation Kees Dorst will offer reflections.

Afternoon Program – October 25 at The New Block (sold-out)

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch (please register if joining) 13:30 - 17:00 Interactive program 17:00 - 18:00 Drinks Our goal is to learn, inspire, and contribute to a growing movement of structured and less-structured collaborations between government and society. This session is relevant for policy makers, administrators, residents' initiatives, partners, interested parties from governments, the design field, and investigative journalists. The session will be in Dutch. This event is sold-out.