The theme for PDC 2016 is ‘Participatory Design in an Era of Participation’. Over 25 years after the first PDC in 1990, participation and co-creation have become essential features of design and research into technology. Living in an era of participation prompts critical questions around the goals and practices of involving people in diverse aspects of developing, redesigning and using IT.

Maker technologies, notions of hacking and shared data, are promoting civic engagement with technology innovation that changes the material and socio-economic contexts of production. At the same time, centralization of the Internet, big data and large-scale infrastructuring challenge the core democratic ideals of PD. These issues call for new perspectives on the values, characteristics, politics and future forms of PD.

Deadline for registration : August 8 @ 5:00 pm