Performing Temporary Spaces for Userdriven Innoation : subprojekt - Municipality platform

The project is a sub projekt of the TempoS Alliance in which the partners coming from DTU, DKDS (The Danish Design School) and CU (University of Copenhagen) have a common focus on user involvement in innovation. The research takes the outset in the identification and performance of temporary, provisional spaces where a variety of actors are assembled with the aim of fostering
innovation through an engagement with existing and imagined practices.

This part of the project takes the outset of the municipality as the platform for innovation and focuses on the user in the role of citizens. The project is developed in collaboration with the municipality of Copenhagen. A PhD projekt constitutes the main contribution. See Peter Munthe-Kaas.
From the Tempos application:
In contrast to most previous work on user-driven innovation our approach does not hinge on the existence of established communities of users, which designers can ‘tap into’ and inter-act with. Our research
will explore situations where the staging of temporary spaces for innovation can lead to the creation
of new practices and emerging artefacts through open-ended interaction.
The alliance’s draws on actor-network-theory, practice theory, social learning and design research
underpinning that innovation entails series of translations. The research is organised in three phases:
1. Drawing on the partner’s earlier research complemented by an overview and analysis of
contemporary approaches to user-driven innovation the alliance’s methodology will be refined.
2. The core of the research will be organised within four projects each emphasising a specific mode of inquiry and covering a number of different sites for user engagement. The projects study how users and innovations are co-constructed within temporary spaces and will produce
a repertoire of methods that can help understanding and support co-creation.
3. The activities will be finalised with a synthesis and outline of how to stage and improve design
education, design practice, and innovation management.
The alliance collaborates with international researchers and facilitates exchange through
publications, seminars, and international conferences. All partners are engaged in education and
professional training opening for continued interaction with students and practitioners in design and
innovation.