Goals

The Barcelona CityWalkShops will help us to better understand ourselves, to explore our urban environments and to explore how we and the city of Barcelona are changing. A City WalkShop has a Walking component and a Workshop component.

Plan to participate and:

  • explore and explain to others how you "see" Barcelona
  • think of living, dynamic systems that "sense" our passage, our movements
  • build upon our diverse points of view to help others see ourselves, our city and technology

Each WalkShop will seek to focus on a few communities and themes that are central to those audiences. The themes of the Barcelona Design Week WalkShop are unique and different from the themes of the SmartCity Expo WalkShop. In general, however, the WalkShops share the goal to Observe and Grow, and, where possible, to contribute (Take Action)

Observe and Grow Our Awareness

During the Walking component of the activity, we point out and expose the digital data collection points in an area (where are the sensors?), making people more aware of their surroundings (where we work, live, play). We also seek to find places where the digital data is used, provided to us and to those who are responsible for a service or place.

During the Workshop component, we will discuss themes such as

  • what are the conditions for all of this capture? are citizens agreeing when they are part of the data?
  • who owns and pays for the digital infrastructure?
  • how do sensors and actuators in our lives/cities change our lives?
  • how can we change/do more with the world in which we live?
  • how do the digital data and infrastructure in the city impact policy? what policies would citizens like to see in place?

By inviting at each WalkShop people of different profiles, who do not naturally work together, we will foster the interaction and discussions about topics that they share an interest in. We will also explore how the digital data collection and publishing may be improved, increased or reduced and used differently in the future.

Taking Action, Enacting Change

In addition, if volunteer leaders are available during the workshop component, there is an opportunity for participants to explore:

  • use of software and hardware tools to "hack" the city
  • publish sensor data in a new way for a new service or application
  • develop and propose a new design for an unattractive device installed on the walkshop route
  • Follow Barcelona City WalkShop