What is the story of Redesign Democracy?

It’s autumn 2016. A group of D.Collective members sit together, shaking their heads about the current political developments. Trump in power, Brexit negotiations underway and seats of the left being snapped up by proponents of the far right across the western world. We and our friends spent so much time discussing these issues – but how could we get from talking to doing? Since all of us studied Design Thinking, we asked ourselves: Couldn’t you combine this idea with tackling political issues? And instead of Re-Designing a product experience, Re-design the Democracy we live in? Redesign Democracy was born.

How does RDD work?

Redesign Democracy turns political interest into action. In a workshop lasting anywhere from a few hours to three days, people figure out which challenge in democracy most interests them. In united teams of likeminded people, the participants run through a Design-Thinking inspired process: Escaping their filter bubble, re-phrasing the challenge, brainstorming, prototyping and testing. At the very end of our RDD workshops, we organize matchmaking sessions where the participants meet NGOs and associations to discuss how collaborations after the workshop could look.

What’s happened since d.confestival?

At d.confestival, we presented our findings from the very first test run. In the following year, we’ve run five two-day-workshops and a dozen smaller sessions. Plus we joined an alliance called “Progressive Coalition” with a number of NGOs and individuals who are standing up for human rights. We are not alone, however, the spirit of “don’t wait. innovate” is often missing within political movements.

Learnings we want to share with you

When it comes to politics, user-centeredness very soon reaches its limits. You can develop a persona, however, if you want the majority of people to accept your solution, you need to take a multi-stakeholder-perspective.

We need your help!

During our workshops, one can feel the motivation of the participants who are seriously committed to changing the world. Unfortunately, this energy falls away when it comes to implementation after the workshop. Come and help us to develop approaches and solutions on how to better support our participants!

Get involved in what’s next

What would it take to disrupt the political status quo not only in our workshops but in general? In order to break the power of political silos, we need to make their walls permeable. We need to allow a multiverse of perspectives and solutions, developed with and by the people who are most affected by them. Politics could work as a facilitator here, but how would look? Join us to develop formats which inspire politicians and other policymakers.

Who we are

We are the D.Collective. We don’t have the answers - but we are looking for them, together. We refuse to be afraid and we don't believe the solutions of the future lie only in the past.

Contact: Michael Metzger and Katharina von Sohlern, www.d-collective.org / www.redesigndemocracy.de