A workshop and a seminar will allow professionals, academics and students to share experiences and methodologies, which facilitate a reflective praxis on Participatory Design and its potential as a didactic strategy in teaching project action. 

The Design degree at the University of La Serena has developed Participatory Design projects with small communities of artisans through the fourth year Design Workshops.

These projects have had two main objectives. On the one hand, propose the development, innovation and design of strategies in project didactics, which enhance the learning and autonomy of design students in learning project development, in spaces of participation with the community and connection with the environment. . On the other hand, moving the center of the design's project action from the object to the satisfier, which implies focusing the exercise of the discipline from Participatory Design, as a project action committed to the sustainable development of people and local communities.

These first experiences of Participatory Design, which arise from the teaching-learning processes of design, require new instances of reflection and discussion. That is why the ULS School of Design, within the framework of the “Binational Participatory Design Conference” with the National University of San Juan, has organized the “Participatory Design Workshop” and the “Participatory Design Seminar”, in charge of the Communication VI and Equipment VI workshops.

The “Participatory Design Workshop”, which takes place on November 11 and 12, will be attended by 16 students from the last levels of the UNSJ Graphic Design and Industrial Design careers along with Architecture teachers Sonia Leanza, DI Silvina Vázquez , in addition to 16 students from the Communication VI and Equipment VI workshops of the ULS Design program and teachers Christian Méndez, Marco Gutiérrez, Wilson Vigorena and Cristian Muñoz, who are joined by representatives of the community of artisans of El Bull and community of new artisans of Tulahuén.

While the “Participatory Design Seminar”, which will take place on November 13 and 14, in the Virtual Room of the Isabel Bongard Campus, the objectives are to provide a conceptual approach to Participatory Design, discuss and exchange experiences that contribute to the analysis of the methodologies of Participatory Design, promote research in Participatory Design as a strategy for the incorporation of design in the economic development of local communities, prepare a proposal on the dimension of Participatory Design as a strategy in teaching the project in design , strengthen the links between the various international institutions that will participate in the Seminar and based on this, prepare a binational publication that records the experiences and proposed methodologies.

This meeting will have the presence of the speakers Sergi Valera and his vision regarding “Social Participation”, and Andrea Olivares, who will refer to “Overcoming Poverty”. For his part, Paulo Barraza will address “Neuroscience”, and the ULS academic, Carlos Calvo, will speak about “Education and Didactics”.

The community of artisans of El Toro and the community of artisans of Tulahuen will also present their vision and testimony.

Regarding the presentation of Participatory Design Experiences, presentations by María Ignacia Escudero, architect of the Country Service of the Foundation for Overcoming Poverty, are expected; Sonia Leanza, teaching architect at the UNSJ of Argentina; Silvina Vázquez, designer; Erick Troncoso, architect and professor at the ULS Department of Architecture; and the academics of the ULS School of Design, Marco Gutiérrez and Christian Méndez.

It should be noted that the “Binational Participatory Design Conference” had as its first action the holding of the “Projecting in Territory” meeting, held in San Juan, Argentina, on October 20 and 23, and the Participatory Design Workshop held in Mogna, organized by the Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design of the National University of San Juan.