REFLECTIONS ON DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: A CASE STUDY IN NEW YORK CITY Eduardo Staszowski, Scott Brown, Benjamin Winter ABSTRACT Today, a number of wide ranging systemic, social, economic, and environmental challenges are provoking governments at various levels to rethink their approach to public service delivery. Recognizing these societal and policy trends, and the need for radical social innovation in the public realm, the DESIS Lab at Parsons the New School for Design began in 2011 the multi-year research program “Public & Collaborative NYC” to investigate the assertion that design can serve as a catalyst for social innovation in public services in New York City. In 2012, the DESIS Lab entered a partnership with the Public Policy Lab, a non-profit dedicated to improving public services through design, and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to develop a project entitled “Designing Services for Housing” which focused on the issue of affordable housing in the city. This article examines the “Designing Services for Housing” project as a case study for identifying various challenges designers face in working in collaboration with public partners to effect social change in the public realm. Key areas of focus include the acknowledgement of the political position of the designer, the recognition and overcoming of epistemological barriers, and the management of risk aversion in the public sector. Building on reflections from this case study, the article concludes by highlighting various implications of designing for social innovation in the public sector and offers recommendations
PUBLIC SERVICES SERVICE DESIGN SOCIAL INNOVATION CO-DESIGN CO-PRODUCTION PROJECT TITLE: Public & Collaborative NYC: Designing Services for Housing
UNIVERSITY/DESIS LAB: Parsons The New School for Design CITY/COUNTRY: New York City, United States MAIN PARTNERS: Public Policy Lab, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development SERVICE AREA: Housing
PROJECT WEBSITE/BLOG: nyc.pubcollab.org PROJECT LEADS: Eduardo Staszowski and Lara Penin, Parsons DESIS Lab Chelsea Mauldin, Public Policy Lab Kathryn Matheny, NYC HPD CONTACT INFO: staszowe@newschool.edu