Open Participation - How online tools could foster user engagement aimed to city development

Sammanfattning: The thesis research question originated form an interest in experiments with web and social media tools, and explores in what ways these kinds of communicative and collaborative media could facilitate opening dialogue among citizens and various actors present in the area of Malmö.The research approach deemed most suitable for the selected area is a combination of a participatory design methodology and ethnographic research. During the fieldwork phase different use situations were investigated through interviews, surveys and case studies. The purpose of the investigation was mapping the different stakeholders who operate to solve these problems engaging the residents. The modalities of communication of Malmö municipality and its non-profit organizations have been analysed. The results were compared with other researches in the fields.To understand the motives behind the users’ behaviour, the reasons for active and non- active participation have been investigated, especially those related to social media. Between a form of passive and active engagement a different form of engagement has been identified, that could include the mixed user group of individuals who are interested in being gradually involved in volunteering; having different level of indirect engagement can facilitate these users in “taking the first step” to participate.The concept was developed as a Facebook App in collaboration with Frivilligcentra. The app will allow the users to define their own engagement path, dividing every local volunteering event in tasks, with different levels of involvement. Overall it may define a new flexibility in the non-profit sector- in the sense of time, place, diversification of the experience, engagement - which could demonstrate that with the support of online tools organizations and users can interact better.