The Crowdmapping Mirafiori Sud experience (Torino, Italy): an educational methodology through a collaborative and inclusive process

The pilot project Crowdmapping Mirafiori Sud” (CMMS), carried out by the Politecnico di Torino (Italy), has involved the academia and the local community in a participative and inclusive process. The genesis of the project lies in the emerging themes of Social Innovation and Collaborative Processes. Given the above, the project was born as an educational experience and supported by funds for students’ activities. The work was conducted by a team of students and professors together with the Mirafiori District, the Fondazione di Mirafiori Onlus, the local population and the CBOs, with particular attention to the most vulnerable categories in terms of accessibility and usability of urban spaces. The District is a vastly area in Torino characterized by a very high average age of its residents and a high percentage of foreigners and a peculiarity is the attitude of its residents towards taking an active part in the district life, thanks to the presence of a rich network of associations. The aim of the project is to identify and report, through the use of ICTs, the obstacles that prevent residents from making use of the public space in their district. The information gathered, processed and classified, is made available through an online platform. Citizens, especially the vulnerable ones (i.e. the elderly) are active subjects: they are asked to report problems and proposals, thus feeding a participation process. Originally, it was not developed starting from the explicit application of the PBL approach: in fact, it been born as an educational experience that started from the students' projects and the exchange of their skills. It evolved as a problem solving according to the PBL approach: the focus are related to the application of the project and to the connections with the participatory process. In particular, the moment of mapping the stakeholders and identifying the connections between the networks of actors proved to be strategic for the implementation phases of the project. Crowdmapping Miarfiori Sud was developed in two different phases. The first one (2013) has set up a pilot methodology to know the context and test the method. It has involved students and citizens with different age and technological skills in a participatory mapping about the neighbourhood. In the second phase (2015), after being awarded with the SIforAGE prize, a more structured approach in term of IT system has been developed in order to involve public officers in the reporting process.