Participatory Design in Schools: Development of an innovative methodology for public space design in and around schools
What is INPAD?
The INPAD project aims to test the design and practice of an innovative methodology for participatory design in schools for the design of public space in and around schools, towards a more complex and long-term involvement of diverse and heterogeneous stakeholders from across the school community in the strategic and management processes of public space design, through larger "ecologies" of social and technological transformation.
The specific objectives of the project are to:
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develop the concept of Participatory Design for school education, focusing on the planning and design of a strategic and management process for the design of public space (in and around schools).
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provide high quality tools and instruments for Participatory Design in schools.
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encourage the whole community (teachers, pupils, parents, local authorities) to become aware of the importance of Participatory Design of public space.
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disseminate the concept of Participatory Design in the community, involving key actors.
The target groups of the project are:
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Students: the introduction of design, architecture and a new way to teach geography in school curriculum as it provides students with new digital skills
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Teachers: they will be trained on facilitating Participatory Design projects
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Schools: they will have high quality instruments and tools to implement innovative Participatory Design.
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Local communities: they will be part of the process of creating a better school environment in their community.
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Public administration/ stakeholders: they will be involved in a growing network of activities promoting Participatory Design.
The main project results are:
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Teachers’ guide on Participatory Design for public space design, offering practical guidelines and approaches to teachers for creating, putting in practice and reviewing Participatory Design projects in schools.
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Open Educational Software for Participatory Design, a unique system for students (firstly) and other users (secondly) that will allow participatory planning & design implementation of courtyard and public space around the school.
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Compendium of good practices, a collection of stories, in an illustrated way, of pilot implementations of Participatory Design in schools.
The expected impact of the project is to:
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improve different skills of teachers and students (IT, collaboration, co-design, dialogue and codecision).
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provide the schools with high quality tools and skills for Participatory Design.
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address the challenges of involving different stakeholders (students, teachers, parents and local authorities) in the development of an inclusive Participatory Design.
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strengthen, through a pilot implementation in selected schools, a wider socio-technical holistic approach in the development of Participatory Design.
The implementation
The project will be implemented by 7 partners from 4 countries: two universities (France and Spain), two schools (Belgium and Spain), one social enterprise (Greece), one NGO (Belgium) and one training & ICT enterprise (Greece)
Go to organizations to learn more about these partners. ​ You can download the leaflet about INPAD in the four national languages of the partners and in English.
