Data and participation for public engagement.

Objective

The course introduces Participatory Data Physicalization (PDP) as a physical and participatory approach to working with data. It aims to help participants understand both the potential and the limits of using data as a shared, tangible material for engagement, reflection, and dialogue. Through examples and hands-on activities, the course shows how PDP can support the active involvement of members of an organization, a community, or an event audience, transforming data into a powerful tool for collective sense-making and bottom-up data collection.

Contents

Through a combination of short lectures, case studies, and discussion, the course introduces the core principles of Participatory Data Physicalization. Participants will explore how data can be activated through bodies, gestures, and spatial arrangements, and how participation reshapes the roles of data producer, designer, and user. The course addresses both internal applications—such as reflecting on organizational processes, dynamics, or cultures—and external contexts, including public events, community engagement, and participatory installations. The session also examines critical aspects of PDP, such as framing participation, inclusivity, facilitation, and the ethical implications of collecting and displaying data in public or semi-public spaces. The session also examines critical aspects of PDP, such as framing participation, inclusivity, facilitation, and the ethical implications of collecting and displaying data in public or semi-public spaces.

Methodology

The course is based on a learn-by-doing approach grounded in Research through Design. Participants are invited to actively engage with data through hands-on exercises that involve physical materials, space, and collective interaction. Rather than focusing on polished outputs, the emphasis is placed on experimentation, prototyping, and reflection, allowing participants to directly experience how PDP works in practice and how design choices shape participation and meaning.

Expected results

By the end of the course, participants will have developed a concrete understanding of how participatory and physical data practices can be designed and facilitated. They will leave with initial concepts or low-fidelity prototypes of PDP interventions tailored to their own organizational, community, or event contexts, as well as with a critical awareness of the opportunities and challenges involved in using data as a shared, performative, and relational medium.

Target audience

The course is primarily intended for companies, organizations, schools, and universities, as well as non-profit institutions, third-sector organizations, festivals, and conferences interested in experimenting with participatory forms of data engagement.

Previous courses

• Oct 2025 Turin @ Fondazione Links