Working together to design and deliver solutions that matter!
The Mending Room celebrates the power of working together to design and deliver solutions that matter, whilst supporting a collective of Menders who might be considered as enablers, implementors, inventors, creators and champions of creative participatory democracy working to address the constant widening of inequalities and the dwindling fit for purpose services that are struggling to meet rising needs of local people.
In each iteration of a Mending Room project, we begin from a starting point of what’s working well instead of only trying to “fix or mend” problems. Menders are recruited to use their imagination in “what if” scenarios. They begin by debating, reflecting, and analysing evidence and perspectives of issues that matter and concern them. They co design tangible prototypes (artifacts, narratives) that carry a spirit of openness and collaboration to question the present and explore alternative futures, moving beyond solving problems to provoke critical thinking about technology, society, and the environment, using creative participatory tools to make abstract futures feel real and spark debate about preferable outcomes.
The Menders share their prototypes for public scrutiny in high profile community engagement events where attendees explore and share ideas on the designs and prototypes. The attendees are invited to consider a range of “what if” scenarios, testing assumptions and surfacing unforeseen issues in order to collaboratively shape the prototype into policy proposals which helps to ensure stronger buy-in and while managing expectations. This is followed by deliberation and amendments, where everyone votes on the proposals, and senior managers & policymakers make commitments to action.
PREVIOUS OUTCOMES HAVE DEMONSTRATED
- Early validation & de-risking to avoid costly large-scale failures before full investment.
- Deeper user understanding from diverse citizens, understanding their fears, motivations, and practical experiences.
- Increased legitimacy & buy-in builds trust and acceptance for new initiatives.
- Systemic insights uncover how proposed solutions fit (or clash) with existing infrastructure, revealing hidden barriers and opportunities.
- Innovative solutions generate novel ideas from simple tweaks to radical concepts by blending diverse expertise (tech, policy, community).
- Economic and social benefits can attract investment and improve social connectivity