Trail Tales: Towards a digital tool for Collective Memory Making

Abstract

This paper describes an ongoing project that researches and designs a digital application "TrailTales", that can support Participatory Design processes (Robertson & Simonsen 2012) in case studies we regularly engage with in Belgium and Tanzania to create sustainable and resilient cities. It discusses projects initiated by universities, but searches for direct participation between grassroots communities and public governments to innovate knowledge on participatory urban planning processes. The digital tool "TrailTales" evolved from an existing tool and is evaluated and adjusted to cater to the need of Collective Memory Making. To analyse and evaluate the existing tool, a mix of methods was used, including quantitative methods to analyse digital tools' data, and qualitative methods such as in-depth semi-structured interviews and co-creative/participatory prototyping and testing.