{"id":3262,"date":"2021-07-02T12:12:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T11:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theurbanmycelium.com\/?p=3262"},"modified":"2022-03-23T13:49:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T12:49:40","slug":"quick-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theurbanmycelium.com\/fr\/quick-wins\/","title":{"rendered":"Quick wins: why you should start with the low hanging fruits"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were in the middle of talking to someone and you suddenly felt an urge to use the restrooms? Do you remember having troubles to follow the conversation perhaps? And you focus on your bladder instead?<\/p>\n

Well, this is kind of what happens at the start of a public participation process for an urban project. Imagine you are a municipality or a property developer. Let\u2019s say a social housing company who would like to renovate ageing apartment buildings, with the input of the tenants. You want to invite the residents to a public meeting or a workshop, in order to brainstorm improvements for the residence. The very first time when you will meet people, you can safely bet that they will almost all come with a strong urge to pee. That they will be focused on their bladder, more than on the renovation of your residence.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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To be fair, there is quite a big problem with the timeline of urban development projects. Participating in public participation programmes for an urban project, that will be inaugurated in only 10 or 15 years from now, is quite frustrating. It is already not easy for urban practitioners, who have to deal with multiple constraints and unexpected problems. But it is even harder for future inhabitants and users. People are OK to participate in imagining the city of tomorrow, but what they mostly want is concrete and immediate changes in their daily lives<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Because for them, what matters is the everyday, with its share of joys and sorrows. The residents\u2019 \u201cpressing\u201d desires are the hole in the pavement down in the street, the lamppost that has been broken for 2 months, or the dog poop that is never picked up in front of the building\u2019s entrance.<\/p>\n

But how do we avoid frustration? Well, if we could respond to simple requests faster, that would already be amazing.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t underestimate the pebbles in people\u2019s shoes<\/h3>\n

Here I will share 2 simple but effective ideas, which have proven efficient several times in the urban projects that I have managed. Three steps that will help you make the participants feel relieved while generating real added value for the project on the long term.<\/p>\n

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  1. Start by conducting a diagnosis of the everyday life of the inhabitants, residents or users concerned by the building \/ urban project.<\/strong> Collect the small joys but also everything that they find irritating or itchy, from the hole in the road to the broken elevator. This phase in itself is very powerful!\n