Embedding participatory agendas in industry: the legacy of PD

Abstract

PD has a long history of reaching out to and involving practitioners working in commercial, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations to achieve the goal of having a more inclusive and representative set of voices included in design and development processes. In the early days of PD there was an assumed connection between academic researchers and workplace participants in defining project objectives and developing strategies to achieve them. As opportunities to embed PD in organizations became more limited due to a weakening of worker rights legislation and the adoption of PD approaches outside Scandinavia it became important for PD to find new ways to establish and maintain connections to industry in order to foster participatory practices beyond the academy. In this talk I will reflect on PD's connections to commercial, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations and will point to opportunities and challenges to strengthen those ties going forward.