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Developing Playful and Tangible Approaches to the Gap Between Academia and Civil Society: Inclusion, and Access Through Participatory Action-Research

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ArtsIT, Interactivity and Game Creation (ArtsIT 2022)

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Abstract

Over the years, academia has had the role of leading the processes of research and development, generating evidence to inform social change. However, this same evidence does not always seem to make these processes effective, based on the premise that there is a gap between higher education institutions and the various civil society organizations. The present work aims to systematize the insights regarding a set of playful resources, originated through Participatory Action Research (PAR) experiences, developed between academia and civil society organizations. These are characterized by a multistakeholder vision of this connection, which includes professors, researchers, students, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and cultural institutions. In addition, these experiences have a specific focus on increasing access and accessibility of distinct cultural forms through interaction and playfulness. In this context, four case studies are presented, as a strategy to bridge this gap, through the operationalization of the notions of social value, tangibility, playfulness, and pedagogical value. Different types of games and an interactive installation were developed from 2015 to 2022 and emerged from concrete problems experienced in the field by the different organizations. The results from these experiences highlight how media research can simultaneously study the users’ needs and produce innovation and change, while bridging the above-discussed gap.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The most approximate English translation of this installation's original name would be Itinerant: Sea Songs.

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Acknowledgements

The present research was developed on the scope of GIM project (COFAC/ILIND/CICANT/1/2020), supported through the Seed Funding program from ILIND and CICANT R&D Unit (UIDB/05260/2020). The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of APPACDM de Lisboa, Casa Pia de Lisboa – CED Jacob Rodrigues Pereira, HUMANITAS – Federação Portuguesa para a Deficiência Mental, and Museu Bordalo Pinheiro.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CICANT, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carla Sousa & José Carlos Neves

Authors
  1. Carla Sousa
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  2. José Carlos Neves
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Correspondence to Carla Sousa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Anthony L. Brooks

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Sousa, C., Neves, J.C. (2023). Developing Playful and Tangible Approaches to the Gap Between Academia and Civil Society: Inclusion, and Access Through Participatory Action-Research. In: Brooks, A.L. (eds) ArtsIT, Interactivity and Game Creation. ArtsIT 2022. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 479. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28993-4_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28993-4_30

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-28992-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-28993-4

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