Start Date
6-10-2025 9:00 AM
End Date
8-10-2025 7:00 PM
Description
Scaling citizen assemblies to increase their impact on sustainable transitions requires situated knowledges. Whilst service design methods can support local governments in working with situated knowledges, there has been a call for more reflection on their application. In contrast to reflection, the feminist metaphor of diffraction enables greater relationality, complexity, and impact within research; yet it remains a novel approach. This paper presents an experiment with participants of a city-level citizen assembly in Sweden. During the experiment, journey mapping was used within a diffraction apparatus, and diffractive reading enabled the collective exploration of barriers to and opportunities for scaling citizen assemblies. This diffractive approach enabled plurality to be explored, complexity to be visualised, and shifted the researcher’s position, increasing participants’ power over their voice. Further research is recommended to explore how diffraction and service design can mutually benefit each other to facilitate sustainable transitions.
Citation
Lindeberg, C.M., Morelli, N.,and Simeone, L.(2025) Adopting a diffractive approach to journey mapping in the exploration of scaling citizen assemblies in Sweden.. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/servdes/servdes2025/researchpapers/44
Adopting a diffractive approach to journey mapping in the exploration of scaling citizen assemblies in Sweden
Scaling citizen assemblies to increase their impact on sustainable transitions requires situated knowledges. Whilst service design methods can support local governments in working with situated knowledges, there has been a call for more reflection on their application. In contrast to reflection, the feminist metaphor of diffraction enables greater relationality, complexity, and impact within research; yet it remains a novel approach. This paper presents an experiment with participants of a city-level citizen assembly in Sweden. During the experiment, journey mapping was used within a diffraction apparatus, and diffractive reading enabled the collective exploration of barriers to and opportunities for scaling citizen assemblies. This diffractive approach enabled plurality to be explored, complexity to be visualised, and shifted the researcher’s position, increasing participants’ power over their voice. Further research is recommended to explore how diffraction and service design can mutually benefit each other to facilitate sustainable transitions.