In May 2024 we hosted the annual digital civics exchange, bringing together students from around the world (including USA, Portugal, Italy, Germany and the UK) to work with local researchers and partners. These students undertook a range of projects, all of which focused on societal challenges and citizen empowerment through the design of civic technologies.
With over 100 attendees across the two weeks, the comprehensive program led by Anna R L Carter featured talks from researchers covering a diverse range of topics, including the latest advancements in digital civics, participatory design methodologies, ethical frameworks, and the impact of technology on community engagement. The program was outlined as follows:
Articulating and Embedding Impact into Digital Civics Research
Lucy Moorcraft, Impact and Engagement Officer, Northumbria University
This workshop focused on collaboratively evaluating various understandings of Digital Civics, exploring methods for embedding impact in research approaches and engagement activities, and articulating how proposed research intends to deliver meaningful impact.
CHI Howay: Get to Know the Research
Anna R L Carter, Centre for Digital Citizens, Northumbria University;
This interactive session invited researchers worldwide to present both accepted and rejected work submitted to CHI 2024. Presentations were given by the following:
- Sebastian Prost, Centre for Digital Citizens, Northumbria University;
- Sara Wolf, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany;
- Ana O Henriques, Interactive Technologies Institute, University of Lisbon;
- Emily Nielsen, Swansea University;
- Denise Lengyel, Open Lab, Newcastle University;
- Caroline Claisse, Open Lab, Newcastle University;
- Colin Watson, Open Lab, Newcastle University;
- Lauren Scott, Northumbria University;
- Lisa Mekioussa Malki, University College London;
- Mark Warner, University College London;
- Jessica McClearn, Royal Holloway University of London;
- Jamie Mahoney & Effie Le Moignan, Northumbria University;
- Rob Wilson, Northumbria University
For overviews of the talks check out: https://dcx.events
Visualising Digital Citizens
Denise Lengyel, Centre for Digital Citizens, Open Lab, Newcastle University
In this hands-on workshop, participants explored the concept of digital citizenship through visual storytelling by creating comic strips that reflected key aspects of being a digital citizen. The goal was to foster discussion around the definition of digital citizens and identify future research avenues.
Envisioning Collaborative Futures: Advancing the Frontiers of Embedded Research
Anna R L Carter, Centre for Digital Citizens, Northumbria University; Tiffany Knearem, Google, Boston
This session started with a seminar by Tiffany on empowering local communities during COVID-19, followed by a workshop aimed at collaboratively developing a dynamic framework for ethical engagement and sustainable embedded research practices in digital civics.
Fostering Feminist Community-Led Ethics: Building Tools and Connections
Ana O Henriques, DCitizens Project, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa
This workshop advocated for a community-led approach to ethics in HCI, integrating feminist principles. Participants engaged in discussions and interactive sessions to develop a meta-toolkit for feminist ethics, aiming to strengthen the interdisciplinary community interested in ethics, digital civics, and feminist HCI.
Merging Activism and Academia
Débora de Castro Leal, University of Siegen
In this talk, Débora explored how rural communities in the Amazon region are integrating digital technology into their lives while coping with economic and technological challenges within broader global supply chains.
"How Will I Know If He Really Loves Me?": A Speculative World-Building Workshop About AI, Communication, and Future Human-Human Relationships
Austin Toombs, Indiana University Bloomington; Kyle Montague, Northumbria University; Suchismita Naik, Purdue University; Paul Parsons, Purdue University
Participants collaboratively explored potential configurations of personal AI assistants (PAIAs) and their roles in human relationships. Through design fiction activities, they considered the future impact of PAIAs on personal interactions and their relationship with technology.
Additionally, student projects from around the globe were completed, culminating in a showcase event that highlighted their two weeks of collaborative work. Overview videos featuring exchange leaders Austin Toombs, Colin Gray, and Paul Parsons provide insights into the students' experiences and achievements during the program.
Collaborations from these projects has resulted in publications, future research development and partnerships on-going after the event. For more information about the event or to get involved next year, please see our website: https://dcx.events