Participatory Design (PD) has long aimed to empower participants and democratize the design of technology. However, PD is continously challenged to achieve long-term and scalable societal impact beyond localized interventions. This paper argues for using the Transformative Agency (TA) lens - particularly Collective Transformative Agency (CTA) - in PD to address this persistent challenge. Grounded in Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), TA highlights the capacity of individuals and collectives to question, disrupt, and reconfigure existing systems. Through empirical vignettes from two educational PD projects across countries, Finland and Denmark, we demonstrate how concepts associated with TA, such as Double Stimulation and Expansive Learning, scaffold the emergence of agency among participants. These concepts enable participants to see themselves not merely as co-designers but as proactive change agents across micro- and macro-sociotechnical arenas. We argue that deliberately designing for CTA in PD opens new pathways for sustainable and scalable transformation, positioning PD not only as a method of participatory involvement but as a catalyst for enduring democracy.
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The open science paradigm, digitalisation, interdisciplinarity and internationalisation have significantly changed the research process, collaboration, dissemination and impact of scholarly work in the 21st century. Research impact assessment should include new metrics based on Web 2.0 channels suffering from the following issues: data quality (i.e. accuracy, coverage, comprehensiveness), heterogeneity of data sources and APIs and potential manipulation (i.e. metrics gaming). Although the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) principles were designed for research data, they can also be applied to research impact metrics to increase their discoverability and reusability. The main aim of this European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action is to remove barriers for the wider adoption and reusability of metrics, based on Web 2.0 technologies, which are a significant and vital part of research ecosystems. These metrics can serve as the basis for enhanced research impact assessment and, thus, improve recognition of excellence and foster the further development of science and society. Although Scientometrics, based on Web 2.0, is a paradigm that is over 10 years old, it has not yet been widely adopted. Therefore, a plan or roadmap for transition to Scientometrics 2.0 is needed. This should include recommendations for overcoming the challenges associated with new research impact metrics, as well as frameworks for the evaluation of new metrics and data sources. These challenges include the heterogeneity and comprehensiveness of metrics data sources, the varying quality of metrics data, metrics data gaming etc. Due to the multifaceted nature of these challenges, the Action proposes to create synergies between all interested actors: researchers, research software engineers, librarians, representatives of metrics data providers and policy-makers.This article presents an edited version of the original funding proposal submitted to the COST Open Call 2021.
In this paper, we explore what a participatory design (PD) approach to artificial intelligence (AI) could look like coupling foundational PD work on empowerment and learning for local development with the concept of enacting utopias and its focus on cross-sectoral collaboration, expansive learning and transformative agency. We suggest that PD could offer a unique position in between utopias and dystopias of AI, focusing on empowering people and organizations to make informed decisions about AI to pose demands to the introduction of AI in work practices. To demonstrate this approach, we report from a case study where we hosted workshops in collaboration with a Union and 53 union members, to help them develop skills, knowledge and agency related to AI. Based on our case, we argue that PD could play a more prominent role in empowering people to take active part in shaping how AI is introduced into the workplace. The main contributions of this paper include a concrete workshop format based on PD principles to facilitate AI literacy and introducing the concept of enacted utopias as a frame to guide PD efforts regarding AI.
