Placemaking is all about turning spaces into places that burst with local spirit and community life. Our Placemaking Card Deck, divided into 48 ITEM cards and 24 PLACE cards, is designed to spark creative new ideas and show where you could put those ideas into action.
When working with community members or colleagues, it can often be helpful to have a design tool that inspires creativity. Here are ten activities that leverage the Placemaking Card Deck as a tool to transform your community spaces.
Activity #1: Matchmaker (45 mins)
Framing (5 minutes):
- Introduce the concept of rapid, creative brainstorming—focusing on quantity over quality. Explain that the goal is to generate as many ideas as possible.
Logistics (25 minutes):
- Tape all PLACE cards on the walls around the room and distribute ITEM cards and sticky notes to participants.
- Participants draw an ITEM card, find a partner, and stand by a PLACE card.
- Quickly brainstorm placemaking ideas combining their items and place, posting their ideas on sticky notes.
- Once they post an idea, they go and select a new ITEM card and find a new partner. Repeat this process.
Debrief (15 minutes):
- Gather the group to share some of the most unique or surprising ideas. Discuss how this exercise can lead to innovative thinking and unexpected solutions.
Activity #2: Collective Story Harvest (90 mins)
Framing (15 minutes):
- Discuss the importance of targeted efforts in placemaking and how prioritizing areas can enhance impact.
Logistics (55 minutes):
- Divide the participants among the storytellers they are most interested in. Storytellers share their experiences while the listeners take notes on aspects related to their chosen element.
- After the storyteller has finished, invite the listeners to reflect back what they heard as it relates to the element they were listening for.
- Finally, participants gather in groups based on the elements they were listening for. For example, everyone who was listening for “Methods & Processes” would get together. Together, they discuss and document the key themes and insights they gathered on flip-chart paper.
Debrief (20 minutes):
- Close the time by inviting participants to do a gallery walk to view and discuss the collected themes from each element group. Bring everyone together in a circle and facilitate a discussion on how these themes relate to the group’s current challenges or projects. This helps integrate the harvested insights into practical strategies.
- Encourage participants to reflect on what they learned and how it can be applied to enhance their work. This reflection turns the activity from a passive listening session into an active learning experience.
Activity #3: Debate that Role (45 mins)
Framing (5 minutes):
- This activity encourages participants to think critically about the Elements cards by debating their importance and application from different perspectives. Explain the concept of role-playing and how looking at issues from different perspectives can lead to deeper insights and innovative solutions.
Logistics (30 minutes):
- Participants draw cards from the Elements Deck and are assigned roles based on the card. For example, someone with a “Visualize a Prototype” card might take on the role of a product designer, while someone with an “Articulate Your Story” card might be a communications director.
- Next, set up a debate where each role defends the importance of their element in the context of a challenge you are working on with your team’s project (or perhaps a hypothetical problem). Participants use arguments and examples to explain why their assigned element is crucial, considering both short-term and long-term project impacts.
- Halfway through, participants switch cards and roles, arguing for a different element than they initially defended.
Debrief (10 minutes):
- Discuss what insights were gained from defending and then opposing different elements. Explore how this exercise might affect their real-world approach to community projects, emphasizing the value of multiple perspectives in planning and implementation.
Activity #4: Deep Dive (75 mins)
Framing (5 minutes):
- This interactive workshop encourages participants to engage deeply with each element of the Elements Card Deck by generating questions and ideas.
Logistics (50 minutes):
- Lay out all the cards from the Elements Card Deck on a large table or several smaller tables, organizing them by category if desired. In round 1, participants walk around the table(s) and write down one burning question they have about each element on sticky notes. These questions should be what they feel needs answering to utilize the element effectively in their projects.
- After a brief group discussion and sharing of the questions, go for a second round where participants now add sticky notes with ideas or suggestions on how each element could be implemented or enhanced in their projects.
- Once all participants have had the chance to contribute questions and ideas for each card, invite them to form small groups based on the card that intrigued them the most or where they feel they could contribute the most to a project. In their groups, participants discuss the questions and ideas noted on their chosen card. Each group works to expand on the ideas, possibly developing a mini-proposal or strategy that incorporates the element into your projects.
Debrief (20 minutes):
- Each group presents their card’s expanded ideas and answers to the questions raised. This allows for cross-pollination of ideas and insights among different groups.
- Conclude with a reflective discussion on how this exercise helped participants think differently about each element and the potential impacts on their projects.
