News
Open Call – Hybrid Democracy track
Traineeship Hybrid Democracy
Calling designers, developers and researchers passionate about technological citizenship
Enter one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century: making democracy fit for today’s digital society. Challenge yourself to design new ways for citizens to engage in democracy. Gain a deeper understanding of the politics of technology, while developing innovative interactive media, installations and interventions in service of democracy.
How?
Join us this September to improve civic engagement on the political issues of technology. Use design research methods to understand how people could improve their “technological citizenship”.
Our main focus this September: Citizens and supporting their ability to move democracies forward in the digital age.
Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the will of the people shall be basis of authority of government[1]. However, in reality people cannot simply do that on their own. This is why we call on designers, developers and researchers to co-create meaningful and engaging democratic interactions.
This project is a collaboration between DSS and Rathenau Instituut. Together, we aim to design opportunities for people to acquire and use their democratic abilities. We will prototype and shape the future of democracies, and contribute to strengthening democratic institutions, furthering or sustaining justice and peace (SDG 16).
By the end of the semester:
Together we decide what the outcomes will be. Maybe we created tools that improve people’s grip on the political dimensions of media technology. We could also look at improving people’s understanding of their rights in the digital society on platforms. Another option is to design ways for people to make their desires for the digital society a collective issue. There is no pre-determined outcome. We will trust the process.
Your profile:
Available to all talented and motivated students, recent graduates of higher education, and professionals seeking to advance their career, regardless of their backgrounds.
- Are experienced with or intend to develop your skills regarding user/citizen-centered design.
- Not only are you a thinker, but also a doer, maker or performer and you flourish in multidisciplinary team.
- Turning concepts into prototypes is your thing, but also reflecting upon results in relation to the societal challenge at hand. You will work closely with different stakeholders and together you will come up with tools and solutions for democracy.
- Together with the city of Amsterdam and its citizens we will design for societal impact. We aim to create solutions for the society of tomorrow and to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This is a full-time 20 week program, we will be working at the DSS Clubhouse or wherever the project takes us. There will be time allocated for documentation or graduation requirements/thesis work. Find out the benefits as a trainee at DSS
Join us
Interested in improving your contribution to democracy, contact us! Find more information here
This is part 2 of a 3 blog series around Hybrid Democracy
Part 1 here
Part 3 here
