VIRTUAL Barcelona Livable Cities
Abstract
This paper presents the results of an ongoing research-action implemented in Abruzzo, a southern Italian region where we aim to provide local community cooperatives with a digital mock-up of a collaborative platform that reflects their values and practices, while gathering analytical insights on their experience with alternative tourism and digital cooperativism. Drawing upon platform urbanism studies (Katmada et al., 2023; Caprotti et al., 2022; Barns, 2020; Fields et al., 2020) and alternative tourism studies (Agustin et al., 2014; Triarchi et al., 2017; Giampiccoli et al., 2021; Jovicic, 2014), we apply the design thinking approach (Goi & Tan, 2021) as a digital co-design method for sociological research objectives with transformative vocation (Lupton, 2018). We are organizing co-design workshops with representatives from different Abruzzo villages that adopted the community cooperative as a form of entrepreneurship boosting local economy and alternative tourism (Planeix, 2016). The workshops’ dynamics follow the Design Sprint method, a five-step participatory process that allows identifying problems, setting long-term objectives, involving participants in imagining solutions, and prototyping and testing the one that best achieves the desired impacts (Knapp et al., 2016). Preliminary results demonstrate that the collaborative platform is mostly designed to promote local attractions otherwise invisible in mainstream sectoral platforms, improve visitors’ cultural experiences with less-known outdoor and gastronomic routes, and foster social cohesion among stakeholders otherwise scattered in the region. In doing so, the co-designed platform reflects the idea of an “interactive system” interconnecting the community cooperatives with official touristic routes while enabling locals to propose “niche” initiatives.
Antonio Opromolla, PhD in “Interaction Design, investigates the impact of digital technologies on public services, urban spaces, and education. He also studies innovative civic engagement processes by applying design thinking methods. Currently he works at the Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, where he conducts communication and public engagement activities on environmental sustainability, energy technologies and efficiency energy research projects.
Giulia Candeloro, currently a PhD student in Business and Behavioural Sciences, with a research project on impact assessment, holds a degree in Business Administration with a specialization in the Management of Cultural and Creative Organizations.
Luciana Mastrolonardo (Architect, PhD) is Assistant Professor at the University of Chieti-Pescara, and member of BACH Center. Her research lies in the field of technology and environmental design, with a focus on the application of strong sustainability to urban environments, mobility and living as well as on place-related social innovation.
Nora Inwinkl earned her PhD in Political Sociology from Sapienza University of Rome. Her research interests span from urban policies to local development, with a particular attention to participatory processes and civic engagement.
Fabio Virgilio earned his PhD in Communication, Social Research, and Marketing from Sapienza University of Rome. His research experiences are rooted in the field of digital platform studies, focusing on platform cooperativism applied to sustainable tourism.
Stefania Parisi (PhD) is an Associate Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and member of the Doctoral Program in Communication, Social Research, and Marketing. She coordinates the research unit “Urban Space, Creativity, Media.” Her research focuses on the relationship between media and social structure, sociocultural transformations driven by digital platforms, the media-city nexus, and the evolution of the internet and web.
Francesca Belotti (PhD) is Assistant Professor in Communication and Media Studies at the University of L’Aquila. Her research interests span from media activism to digital ageism and sexism, with an analytical focus on the mutual shaping between communication technologies, culture and society. With such a lens, she has also recently approached the field of studies on digitally mediated tourism, investigating the relationship between sectoral platforms and local cultures.