Framing participation in a hybrid workspace
Résumé
As the use of participatory formats and tools proliferate within public and private sectors, specialized institutions emerge as third parties to promote and organize cooperative efforts between actors. Unlike traditional organizational consultancy which operates between management and staff within an organization, these institutions focus on the middle ground between product designers and users, companies and clients, and independent developers and online project communities. Acting as intermediaries, they are defined by both the economical value they create in a two-sided market and an expertise in designing participatory formats on a case-by-case basis. Thus, while they provide the aims and tools to separate groups to interact with each other, they organize cooperation between different social worlds through a translation process of different socio-cultural contexts. This essay proposes to develop a socio-ethnographic approach to the case of a non-profit organization named Silicon Sentier, operating as a third party within and through a semi-public space called La Cantine, where various participatory formats are developed and promoted to improve cooperation within a heterogeneous network of private companies, public institutions and individuals.