Uploaded on 2015-12-14 by JoanaPol

**Background Information** In the historical centre of Porto there is a small café with a very peculiar system. There are properly identified (and actually named) lockers inside the café where the locals can chip in money for individual use. This way, the money is stored and can be used as they wish – they can either pay all their future expenses at the café without having to carry money with them or they can choose to redirect that money to someone else and pay his/her expenses. ![lockers][1] **Purpose** I would suggest taking that “individual piggy bank” concept and making a critical shift towards a “community piggy bank” instead, as that would support pro-active, collaborative responses to actual problems that the locals and their neighborhoods face on a daily basis. I am confident that supportive schemes of organization within a community can be very meaningful and make a lot of sense in a digital era where suspicion and individualism prevail and actual interaction fails to occur. For this reason, a local crowdfunding system supported by collective brainstorming processes would impact on the overall atmosphere and happiness of the community. **Method** • Deliver a questionnaire to the members of the community in order identify suggestions and problems that need to be addressed • Aggregate and analyze the gathered data • Schedule a series of meetings to discuss the results of the questionnaire and promote a collective brainstorming process within the community members. Engage architects / local governors to join them and define one pressing project / problem to be solved • Place the chosen project's piggy bank in a high-profile area of the neighborhood/community, along with explanatory messages and diagrams • Schedule cultural activities and talks in that area to raise awareness and promote the participation and monetary contribution, inside and outside the community • Provide continuous feedback in order to engage the community in the crowdfunding process (systematic meetings) • Once the goal is reached, schedule an open event with cultural activities to celebrate • Schedule systematic meetings to organize and prepare the project’s evolution Citizen participation has the potential to change each project and, more importantly, to sustain its evolutional process. Each project becomes fairly unique, as it implies the involvement and commitment of the inhabitants in its development, which relies on a collective cooperation and willingness. For example, adequate public transport, leisure facilities for children, schools, daycare centers, parks, health centers, sporting or social venues and cultural activities could be addressed. Through this method in particular, people would have the opportunity to freely discuss the importance of quality space or critical infrastructure and to both claim and challenge the notion of **social appropriation**. [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14501363219818469.jpg