Here are the CivicIxD researchers that are currently following a PhD or PD Tracks:
The Art of the Mediated Dialogue: The Role of Ownership, Technology, and Participation in Facilitating Dialogue in Local Communities
Researcher: Nadja van der Weide
Professional Doctorate Track
How can residents be given “ownership” over co-creation processes related to social themes or challenges through a jointly developed creative practice? This question is central to the Professional Doctorate trajectory De kunst van de gemedieerde dialogue (The Art of the Mediated Dialogue) by Nadja van der Weide. Participation or co-creation is often directed by external initiators, where residents are allowed to take part in an approach (or framework) that has been designed for them. The risk is that participation becomes nothing more than a mere formality: a mandatory exercise with little room for the real problems or ideas of the residents.
Van der Weide explores how to restore balance in this relationship and what role creators and neighborhood residents can play in this process. How can they jointly shape practices in which residents, from their own perspective, can take on a more active and agenda-setting role? To achieve this, she develops a layered approach. This begins with small social-artistic interventions and gradually builds up to increasingly larger projects. Inspired by the approach of the Embassy of the North Sea, this process consists of a listening phase, a speaking phase, and a negotiation phase.
Initially, the interventions are accessible and open. For example, in Amsterdam-Noord, Van der Weide co-created a mobile community center called De Ontmoeting (The Meeting). This community center can be used for various resident-driven activities, such as cooking together, baking bread, making a quilt, or creating tile wisdoms for the ‘wall of wisdom’ in Amsterdam-Noord.
Facilitating Reflexivity in Design Education with PhotoReflexivity
Researcher: Marije ten Brink
PhD track
Student reflexivity can be enhanced when design students take and discuss self-made photos with each other. However, photo-related activities in education are not utilised to their full potential. This doctoral research introduces PhotoReflexivity as an approach to unlock this potential, by encouraging students to share and interpret self-made photos. It consists of mobile technologies as well as instruments for collaborative use in the classroom. Next to practical artefacts, the research contributes by offering clear definitions of reflexivity and related concepts, a framework and practical steps to scaffold the reflexive process in education, along with design recommendations for reflexivity support. Ultimately, PhotoReflexivity is positioned as a pedagogical approach for fostering reflexivity, crucial for preparing students for their roles as responsible and autonomous design professionals. The research is conducted at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) and the Technical University Eindhoven (TU/e).
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Toys4Therapy
Researcher: Tamara Pinos Cisneros
PhD track
Paediatric occupational and physical therapy exercises often turn out to be uninviting due to its repetitive nature, therefore patients struggle with executing them in the home environment. This research intends to study how already used muscle therapies for children with cerebral palsy can be complemented with playful and engaging interactions that increase motivation supported by behavioural change techniques (BCTs). For this, I am focusing on new technologies, like smart toys (interactive & connected), that can provide personalised hand therapy while improving the play experience, providing the therapists with relevant data and encouraging children to exercise more at home. This research provides an important opportunity to advance the understanding of motivation and playfulness in therapy assisted by new technologies. This is a PhD project executed in collaboration with the ‘Digital Society School’, the Civic Interaction Design Research Group and the Digital Life Centre, at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the ‘University of Twente’ and ‘Roessingh Rehabilitation Centre’.
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