Borders & Intersections
Collaborative Storytelling for Service Design
Amidst a wide range of complex social issues and public challenges, governments both in Italy and abroad are dealing with problems in service delivery, public accountability and lack of resources. These trends are driving a wave of experiments, and a search for a new generation of policies and services. Some of these alternative views raise questions about the values and mission of public sector and can seem opportunistic and contentious.
This exercise explores and debates these new forms of collaborations between government and civil society in times of political polarisation, bureaucratic fragmentation, and public disengagement. Through an exercise based on storytelling we are hoping to learn about different perspectives and discuss the opportunities and risks of governing and managing public services. Storytelling in service design as an opportunity to experimentation, reflection on and debate.
The story unfolds in the city of Milan, the first city in Italy for the shared mobility. AllRide is one of the biggest private companies that offer bike-sharing services in the city, but the bad practices of several users in some neighbourhoods led the company to take extreme measurements to avoid bike thefts and damages. However, AllRide’s decisions are fragmenting the city and uncovering concealed social issues. Through the eyes of four actors who deal with the effects of the company’s decision, “Borders & Intersections” narrates the different opinions and reactions to the division of the city to open a conversation on how to create and deliver solutions by considering every point of view of the actors involved.
