Reframing Participation in ICH in a Decentering and Decolonising Design Perspective: Drafting guiding principles from a review of literature and of funded projects

This exploratory paper aims at providing some early theoretical insights contributing to the redefinition of the evolving landscape of Participatory Design (PD), hypothesising a set of principles for reframing it with a decentring perspective in the field of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). ICH, as local knowledge and cultural practice, is a potential trigger for mutual understanding, dialogue and coexistence, addressing transformative changes towards sustainability; on the other hand, participatory as well as co-design process, practices and methods, are increasingly used in community projects, as means to foster inclusion, equity, and resilience for ICH activation (acknowledgement, sharing, transmission, experience and re-use), especially in sensitive contexts, like minority groups, marginalised and impaired people. However, these processes often (sometimes unconsciously) see design acting as a structure of authority and power that, according to a Western model based on a tendentially colonizing approach, is placed in a position of presumed superiority (of knowledge, resources, capacity, skills) with respect to the object of the project, i.e. the heritage and the communities. Drawing from a mixed narrative and integrative literature review approach (from which it emerges that awareness on this topic is beginning to make its way into the scientific-academic community) alongside a qualitative analysis of about 30 research projects funded under European research programs (that shows how these critical positions are applied and work in practice), the paper proposes some guiding principles to “decentralize” the practices and habits related to participatory design in the field of intangible cultural heritage, in order to support a real epistemological and disciplinary change towards an ethic and decolonizing approach in participation.