Embedded Files
Civic pedagogies (CP) are an emergent learning practice, in which the citizens learn from and within the built environment, with the aim of nurturing citizen action for urban transformations (Perez Martinez 2019, Antaki, Belfield and Moore 2024). They build from the legacies of critical (Freire, Giroux) and feminist (hooks) pedagogues by nurturing deep consciousness, and political subjectivities in learners. They can be used as an extension of existing methodologies, e.g. Urban Living Labs or Participatory Action Research. They are equally comfortable as stand-alone practices in which civic learning directly engages with and responds to the socio-spatial conditions of neighbourhoods, in the spirit of radical urban education (Dobson, McFarlane).
‘Design-driven’ pedagogies specifically focus on supporting the formation of civic and learner agencies. They apply co-design tools to co-curate neighbourhood learning programmes, which address local concerns and urgencies (e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss) and ultimately aim to develop situated and embodied knowledge(s) that support civic action.
by Andrew Belfield
key references:
Antaki, N., & Petrescu, D. (2023). Designers roles in civic pedagogies of co-making: lessons from the Global South and North. CoDesign, 19(1), 51–73.
Antaki, N., Belfield, A., & Moore, T. (2024). Radical Urban Classrooms: Civic Pedagogies and Spaces of Learning on the Margins of Institutions. Antipode.
Perez-Martinez, S. (2019). Deschooling Architecture. The Contemporary Journal, 1–15.,
hooks, b. (2003). Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope. In Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope. Taylor & Francis Group.
Leadning by doing, Eco-construction workshop at R-Urban Poplar, Image by Nana Maolini.
Co-Mapping Neighbourhood Interests and Networks, Image by Andy Belfield
Discursive Dinner at R-Urban Poplar, Image by Andy Belfield
Situated and Neighbourhood Civic Learning, Foraging Walk, Image by Nana Maolini
PRACTICE-LED RESEARCH PROJECT
PRACTICE-LED RESEARCH PROJECT
R-Urban Poplar
R-Urban Poplar
Project:
Climate Companions
Project team:
Andrew Belfield, R-Urban Poplar and public works
project summary & co-production approach
Climate Companions (2022-23) was two-year practice-based research, exploring the potential of design-driven civic pedagogies in nurturing agency for urban transformations. Working within the R-Urban Poplar eco-civic hub, the programme worked collaboratively with R-Urban members and local residents to co-produce two trial ‘learning festivals’ that engaged citizens in the urgency of neighbourhood climate change and its intersection with care ethics.
Through two one-month learning programmes a community of practice engaged in an empowering co-learning process rooted in situated and embodied experiences of the neighbourhood. This collective learning experience supported learners in realising the ‘achievement of agency’ and developed the capabilities to ‘act’ within everyday life.
methods for co-producing knowledge + co-design
This co-design process centred on two main methods:
Discursive Dinners: co-design activities were structured around a performative dinner setting, in which thematic discussions are linked to the collective food preparation and eating (Aßmann et al. 2017). Each ‘course’ was linked to a corresponding design activity, supporting participants in sharing individual learning needs and desires. In this case, the format supported commonalities and stronger relations between participants, which was integral in forming a diverse community of practice.
Co-Mapping Neighbourhood Networks and Spaces: focused on collectively mapping how the pedagogies could intersect with the local neighbourhood and its communities. Participants were invited to map local associations and groups who could be allies, or could benefit from participation. Second, participants mapped neighbourhood spaces of interest and neglect, identifying spaces of collective study, investigation and action. This supported the community of practice to move beyond individual learning desires to more collective neighbourhood concerns.
entanglements of justice in co-production and design
Overcoming inherent hierarchies through co-learning
Co-learning describes the process when a community of practice comes together to design, teach and learn as a collective. This process helps to flatten natural hierarchies and imbalances through sharing of pedagogic responsibilities within the group. One method for flattening knowledge hierarchies is to support participants to ‘become teachers’ during the learning programme. In this case it supported co-learners in valorising situated knowledge(s) rooted in lived experience by sharing this knowledge with others in the group by becoming workshop hosts. Supporting participants to take on these new roles and responsibilities requires checking-in, on-going support and care from the design-researcher, but supports the pedagogic aim of nurturing potential agencies within participants.
references
Manzini, E. (2015). Design, when everybody designs : an introduction to design for social innovation. Cambridge, Massachusetts .
Huybrechts, L., Benesch, H., & Geib, J. (2017). Institutioning: Participatory Design, Co-Design and the public realm. CoDesign, 13(3), 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/15710882.2017.1355006
Aßmann, K., Bader, M., Talevi, R., & Ruhr, U. K. (2017). Explorations in Urban Practice: Urban School Ruhr Series. Dpr-Barcelona. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vjA5DwAAQBAJ
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