Current Research Projects
How might we imagine and create democratic spaces and institutions that are resilient to political changes? We need to rethink public goods, including new governance models, non-extractive transactions, that can establish a foundation of a progressive society.
Research Area 1: Communities + Governance
Empowering Marginalized Communities for Climate Migration
How can governments and aid organizations engage with vulnerable communities to have this “hard” conversation about climate migration and how can they develop the apparatus for a responsive exchange with communities that possess little political power? As part of MIT Grand Climate Challenge, we are working on a proposal to develop a participatory adaptation platform to enable the world’s most climate vulnerable communities to discover, negotiate with and migrate to receptive locations where they can thrive and be safe.
[Sept 2020 - Ongoing]
Civic Smart City Initiative
Civic Smart City Initiative seeks to imagine the future city as motivated by an ethics of care rather than efficiency. At a time when values of inclusion and justice are at the forefront of city governance, there is an urgent need to design the procedures that will put those values into action, otherwise transformation will not be possible.
How can public institutions share power and resources with constituents? What are the mechanisms required for effective policy co-creation? How are formal and informal publics and companies collaborating with municipalities to create policies, procedures and practices that work for everyone, especially those most marginalized? What are the media, data sharing protocols, processes, and political structures required for this to work well? How are municipal governments moving beyond standard consultation models towards authentic shared decision-making?
The civic smart city adapts new technologies to meet the needs of its residents, not simply markets, and thereby establishes a model of resilience necessary for 21st century urbanism.
Find out more about related projects developed through MIT Civic Media CoDesign Studio
Research Area 2: Communities + Spaces
Designing Experiences in the New Normal
In the post-Pandemic era of the New Normal, how should people identify, negotiate, and experience public spaces and activities when the basic habits of being near, interacting, and connecting with others will be disrupted by the fear of infection?
Using applied ethnography methods, we’re collecting people’s voice, experiences, and narratives of their New Normal days. We will be constructing a landscape of experiences, first to understand the current pandemic situation and second, to identify opportunities for design.
Image from UN Covid-19 Response call, Unsplash
[May 2020 - Ongoing]
Research Area 3: Communities + Industry
Envisioning Speculative Democratic Futures
How can we design for democratic values and progressive futures? With industry collaboration, we’re seeking to co-envision, storytell and roadmap value-driven future experiences where industries play a significant role through their product and service offerings.
Designing for Financial Wellbeing
How can we design for a holistic financial experience to help people feel supported, guided, and informed about their financial health? Every person’s experience and understanding of 'financial wellbeing’ is different - it is contextual to their life stage and situation, relative to their peer groups, and subjective as it relates to their personal goal towards financial freedom. We are exploring ways of increasing accessibility and awareness of financial resources, to expand participation of both unbanked and banked citizens in the financial infrastructure to promote financial wellbeing. This project is supported by Banco Bradesco.
[Oct 2020 - Ongoing]
Emerging Technologies
How is the landscape of emerging technologies changing over the years? What technologies are on the rise and how it would impact our experiences in the near future? We are conducting a broad overview secondary research/scouting on technological trends; this year, applying a post-pandemic filter of projected socio-economic effects. This research is supported by DEVO Lab at SDA Bocconi.
[ongoing]