Empowering Locals Through Service Design and Social Innovation: The MakeinProgress Case Study

The society we live in today is undergoing a paradigm shift (Murray 2009). The crisis of the capitalist model is creating the need for certain social innovation processes (Murray et al. 2010, Manzini 2015). This paper presents an example of how social innovation and service design (Meroni and Sangiorgi 2012, Stickdorn and Schneider 2012) can promote local territories through making. We tested a “what-if ” situation to answer the following research questions: a) what kind of maker space could work in this territory; b) who are the potential users, and c) if making could increase the local territory’s appeal for social innovation. Using the method of action research (Stringer 2014, Stoecker 2012), we created a demonstration plan we refer to as demo service in order to experiment with different kinds of activities and areas of application. The MakeinProgress (MiP) project was then initiated. MiP was a case study of the way making could facilitate local development (Bianchini et al. 2014) with the aid of service design. MiP previewed the use and social function of an old filanda (textile mill) being restored thanks to public financing. The converted former mill was initially conceived of as a business incubator and was later adapted to fit local needs. The territory in question was unfamiliar with the dynamics of making, maker spaces, and social innovation. Service design was widely and practically used (i.e. open calls for ideas, workshops, space hacking, etc.), hence demonstrating what can be achieved when design positions itself as the intermediary between institutions and local communities. The action research methodology helped an awareness of the project to emerge and spread through the local territory, aiding the identification and training of a group of local citizens who could assume management of the space; it also helped shape the space according to local demands. Thanks to service design, the former mill became a place that allowed the community to promote new job opportunities, share ideas, and facilitate the creation of new businesses. MiP also enabled new collaborations between the creative community and pre-existing local companies, helping the latter to benefit from the community through exposure to new technologies and the cross-pollination of ideas.