Tackling social & environmental issues through participatory design and social innovation
During a ten weeks experience in the field of social innovation and participatory design, we focused on the case of ReTuren. This new structure is localized in an area in Southern Malmö which deals with several issues, such as insecurity, unemployment and poor waste handling. ReTuren is a place concerned by the issue of waste handling but which aims at going beyond tackling this only problem. Indeed, it also attempts at developing as a meeting place by engaging people around upcycling and repairing activities. Our task as designers was therefore to explore future possibilities for ReTuren.

Understanding the place’s role and issues through workshops and discussions
As a starting point, we met the stakeholders of the project. We gave our time to help them setting up the new place (creating furnitures from pallets and wooden crates), and in exchange they took the time to engage in collaborative activities with us.
From observations and meetings with the local actors and the population as well, we ended up with many ideas combining a greater commitment of the people in the future of their neighborhood and a better waste handling.

A game-shaped tool to envision scenarii and futures
Instead of only leaving to the stakeholders preset ideas of projects to set in ReTuren, we also wanted to create something that could accompany them in their everyday life to think about new projects. Therefore we imagined a tool to ‘map’ and make the complex connections within the project visible : the different actors of the area, the places in the neighborhood, the skills and interests of people, the type of waste…
We gave design tools to the stakeholders, pushing them to think about ways to engage people by visualizing a network of opportunities.

Box content
The tool (both in swedish/english) includes:

• Words: Stakeholders, groups of people, time, feelings, approaches, issues, actions, events
• Maps: the place and its rooms, neighborhood
• Drawings: objects, people to move on the maps
• Issue Cards: challenging questions to be tackled
• Ideas Cards: preset ideas to modify
• Blank pieces: because the tool should be appropriated
• Rules: mini-games to frame the experience

The Stories maker is given sense and meaning through its use, to tell past stories that happened or to imagine new ones.