Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
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PAPERS: Participation in Policy making, Part II Location: Appleton Tower, LT5 Zoom Link Accessibility: https://www.accessable.co.uk/the-university-of-edinburgh/central-area/access-guides/appleton-lecture-theatre-5-edinburgh Session Chair: Scott Schmidt, Georgetown University Session Chair: Sabine Junginger, Northumbria University | |
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Participatory design as an epistemic practice: Designing for institutional responsiveness in the Scottish Parliament The Glasgow School of Art, United Kingdom This paper examines Participatory Design (PD) as an epistemic practice that can strengthen how democratic institutions listen and respond to diverse forms of knowledge. Drawing on the PARliament Engagement project, it explores how creative approaches can reveal and reshape the interpretive practices that govern what counts as evidence in parliamentary scrutiny. The research was conducted through a participatory action research process involving ethnographic shadowing, interviews, and co-design workshops with parliamentary staff, creating opportunities for shared reflection on how knowledge is generated, interpreted, and used across scrutiny work. The paper develops the concept of institutional responsiveness to describe how PD can make interpretations of evidence visible, support organisational reflection, and build capacity for more inclusive and accountable decision-making. This positions PD not only as a method of engagement, but as a way of designing the infrastructures through which democratic institutions understand, evaluate, and respond to diverse forms of knowledge. View Paper: https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1955
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