Participation in the public sector: Using design and virtual workshops to involve immigrants in a co-creative process
Beks, Ana Kyra (2022)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121730683
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121730683
Tiivistelmä
The accelerating changes in our society are challenging the public sector and their approach to governance. There is a growing interest in public participation to innovate and create better public services and policies. Governments are searching for different ways to expand participation and leverage opportunities brought by technological developments in their processes. Design has been acknowledged as an appropriate collaborative approach to tackling complex social issues in the public sector. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic the public sector has experienced virtual collaboration, and its benefits. The question that arises is how might design and virtual collaboration aid the public sector to increase public participation? The question that arises is how might design and virtual collaboration aid the public sector to increase public participation?
The purpose of this thesis is to explore the potential of design in the development of participatory processes in the public sector. The presented research-based development work aims to support the project initiated by the Finnish Ministry of the Interior to define long-term objectives for Finland’s comprehensive migration policy. The objective of the thesis is twofold: First, to use design to co-create solutions that would improve participatory policy making together with immigrants and public servants and second, to design and implement virtual collaborative events to involve immigrants in a participatory process. The development work is based on a theoretical framework that lies at the intersection of design and public participation. Furthermore, the concepts of co-creation, virtual workshops and policy making are explored. The research-based development work is based on qualitative research, and it utilised service design methods like contextual interviews for gathering data. The qualitative data was then analysed using methods like affinity mapping. During analysis a deeper understanding of the problem was gained that led to the formulation of two development questions.
The result of the development work is an implemented process that involved public servants and immigrants at different stages of the design process using virtual workshops. An output of the process are three co-created prototypes of tools. Two of the tools aim to aid policy makers in designing participatory policy making processes and one to support immigrants providing key information on immigration policy making. Moreover, a proposal of a new visualisation of the design process is offered as an additional unexpected result of the development process.
The thesis critically explores the potential of participation and design to address complex issues that the public sector must deal with. The many barriers for actively involving citizens and public servants can be avoided and minimised by careful and intentional design of participatory process. Moreover, engaging public and citizen stakeholders in virtual workshops proved to be an effective and efficient alternative to traditional participatory methods in the public sector. The potential of virtual workshops and tools is discussed at the end alongside suggestions for increasing participation in the public sector.
The purpose of this thesis is to explore the potential of design in the development of participatory processes in the public sector. The presented research-based development work aims to support the project initiated by the Finnish Ministry of the Interior to define long-term objectives for Finland’s comprehensive migration policy. The objective of the thesis is twofold: First, to use design to co-create solutions that would improve participatory policy making together with immigrants and public servants and second, to design and implement virtual collaborative events to involve immigrants in a participatory process. The development work is based on a theoretical framework that lies at the intersection of design and public participation. Furthermore, the concepts of co-creation, virtual workshops and policy making are explored. The research-based development work is based on qualitative research, and it utilised service design methods like contextual interviews for gathering data. The qualitative data was then analysed using methods like affinity mapping. During analysis a deeper understanding of the problem was gained that led to the formulation of two development questions.
The result of the development work is an implemented process that involved public servants and immigrants at different stages of the design process using virtual workshops. An output of the process are three co-created prototypes of tools. Two of the tools aim to aid policy makers in designing participatory policy making processes and one to support immigrants providing key information on immigration policy making. Moreover, a proposal of a new visualisation of the design process is offered as an additional unexpected result of the development process.
The thesis critically explores the potential of participation and design to address complex issues that the public sector must deal with. The many barriers for actively involving citizens and public servants can be avoided and minimised by careful and intentional design of participatory process. Moreover, engaging public and citizen stakeholders in virtual workshops proved to be an effective and efficient alternative to traditional participatory methods in the public sector. The potential of virtual workshops and tools is discussed at the end alongside suggestions for increasing participation in the public sector.