Book Recommendation: Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity.
Quick Summary: Design as Democracy offers a bit of a cookbook for the, participatory design practices to promote cultural understanding and enliven neighborhoods. This book invites us to practice community design, helping us design with communities in empowering and effective ways, while encouraging us to cultivate an understanding of communities’ distinct needs, culture, geography, and diversity. Each chapter presents techniques for initiating a project, getting to know a community, and provoking change with justice and democracy in mind. (Edited by David de a Pena, Diane Jones Allen, Randolph T. Hester Jr., Jeffrey Hou, Laura J. Lawson, and Marcia J. McNally. Island Press. 2017)
Ariel Schwartz
Managing Director, Center for Social Impact Strategy