STBY was invited by La 27e Region, the French national Laboratory for public transformations, to present at the opening of “Superpublic” – an exciting space in the center of Paris dedicated to transform the public sector in France. The event was part of the “Week of public innovation”, an annual conference organised by “ le Secretariat General pour la Modernisation de l’Action Publique” (General Secretary for the Modernisation of Public Affairs), which falls directly under France’s Prime minister.
To inspire the audience composed of civil servants and citizens, four design agencies -amongst which STBY- were asked to present recent public sector projects. The agencies came from different European countries and showed a variety of collaborative design approaches. From making films with citizens to imagine the desired future 10 years of their territory, to creating an animation toolbox to co-create co-responsible vision for 2033 for the ‘Gironde’ county.
On behalf of STBY Marie de Vos presented a series of case studies wherein ‘design documentaries’ exploring citizens needs and everyday struggles were created as a way to empathise and inspire civil servants to co-create improvements and new services.
The different approaches presented clearly had a common goal: design ways to have administrations and citizens work together in a better way. It was inspiring to see how design thinking is spreading in France in the past years through the different layers of the public sector.