Designing for wellbeing
Designing for wellbeing
Designing for wellbeing
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learning includes four components: identity, community, practice and<br />
meaning. Identity refers to the opportunity of becoming, learning new skills<br />
and understanding one’s new role as a good neighbour or an active citizen 5 .<br />
Through social participation, people can reshape their understanding of<br />
who they are and what kind of neighbourhood they are living in. These<br />
social practices also enable participants to belong to a certain group of<br />
people, or to a certain area. There<strong>for</strong>e the second component in the process<br />
is the community aspect, learning as belonging. Third, learning through<br />
practical participation – doing things together – is an issue of engaging<br />
in one’s own neighbourhood and contributing to its practices. The fourth<br />
component is the generation of meanings. The community starts becoming<br />
a more active and safe place to live through people’s actions. 6<br />
The participatory process in Kannelmäki<br />
In Kannelmäki we explored how to approach residents to enhance their<br />
living environment in a collaborative manner. Our process started by<br />
observing the area, followed by an event where the locals were interviewed<br />
about the meaning of the concept of neighbourhood. These steps led<br />
towards us choosing a more specific set of problems, which we addressed<br />
in a workshop together with Kannelmäki residents. Finally, we organised<br />
a block party in collaboration with local stakeholders and associations as<br />
a way to demonstrate how the area could be improved by simple actions<br />
highlighting existing resources rather than creating something completely<br />
new. Furthermore, new service ideas to make inhabitants more active were<br />
generated. The process of engaging people to build <strong>wellbeing</strong> is explained<br />
below on a more detailed level.<br />
The observation phase included several visits to Kannelmäki. The aim was<br />
to get a first impression of the area, to find out its strengths and weaknesses,<br />
5 Wenger 1998, 4<br />
6 Wenger 1998<br />
106 · Social <strong>wellbeing</strong> through participation in Kannelmäki suburb