Tools

This is a process that has the objective of equipping the tenants to be able to plan the use of the common spaces available to them and to define the rules that will govern their use.
In order to achieve this, several tools have been devised for the design and prototype the activities, a web platform to manage the project and facilitate communication among the residents, and tutorials on how to efficiently perform each activity in a short time and how to structure the governance.

The area that is reserved for the community’s use is only accessible via registration, and its purpose is to help the community to organize itself and to manage the shared spaces and equipment.
The reserved area includes a calendar which allows the users to have a complete vision of the initiatives that are taking place in the coming months or weeks. Each user can book the spaces via the web platform and an invoicing system keeps track of the usage time and calculates the potential contribution that the user should make to the residents’ association.
In the Spaces section, the user can view the list of spaces available in the complex they live in and can access relevant information such as: floor plan, rules, available equipment and updates in the log book (cleaning, damage and status of consumable products).The section Events and Activities allows a single user or group of users to manage the activities taking place. The user can see all information relating to the single initiative such as: the content, the frequency, the names of the contact persons – with a direct link to their personal profile – the list of participants, and any available photos and documents which can be downloaded.
In the People section, users can see the profiles of everyone who has subscribed to the web platform. Each person’s profile can contain: contact information, personal information, the activities they participate in, and photos etc.
The web platform is then completed with additional functionality: a news page – which functions as an actual electronic noticeboard where the staff can publish notifications and important communications to the residents – and a page dedicated to the residents’ association.
In addition to being of great organizational assistance to the users, the web platform is also a support tool for those who manage the residents’ community because it offers the possibility to collect, in a timely manner, useful information and notifications which enable them to carry out any specific interventions required. The data that is collected in the database is also used for monitoring operations and for evaluating the social impact that the community has on the local neighbourhood.
The SpaceH platform has been active since 2015 and has been used in the projects “Cenni di Cambiamento”, “Borgo Sostenibile” and “Vivo al venti”. It is visited and used every day and is also utilized to promote the activities of the resident communities to the outside world.
The feedback from platform users over time has enabled improvements to be made to the functionality of SpaceH, but the tool itself is in constant evolution with the implementation of new functions to make it even more user-friendly.

1) Methodology for using this tool in the selection process
Divided into groups of no more than 20 people, the participants, gathered around tables, discuss together the activities that could be set up within the project, also on the basis of the shared spaces that they have available. The group starts turning over the activity cards in the centre of the table, only choosing those which they are most interested in. If the group selects more than one activity of interest and this results in lengthy discussion, each participant is given 3 Post-Its numbered “5” “3” and “1” which they use to vote for their 3 favourite activities; the activity that receives the highest score is the one that will be developed by the workgroup.

2) Methodology for using this tool in the Community Start-up phase
The same tool is used by the residents in Workshop 3: Designing Future Activities in the Community Start-up Process, where themed work-tables are prepared ahead of time (for example, Childcare, Culture, Tools of the Trade, Daily Needs, Leisure Activities); each table then uses the Social Cards that relate to the specific topic.

The residents are free to choose the table they wish to work at, according to their interests and skills.

It is the residents who have already been through the process who “pass on” their experience and who talk about the most critical stages and how they reached their objectives. This trust in the project’s efficiency, in addition to being transmitted directly to the new residents through personal testimony, is implicitly expressed by the tool that measures the level of organisation involved. This last point is very important because the participants need to feel as though they are being accompanied by a method that is both precise and reliable.

A simplified illustration of the layout of the apartments is shown on paper, and each family unit is asked to identify their own home, and to attach a photo or drawing of themselves and also a brief card of self-introduction. In this way everyone starts to build up a mental picture of the community that is being created. This work is then uploaded to the web platform and made available to the users; like this the residents can get to know the names of the other residents and the composition of the other families.

Within each workshop the plan is for the “teacher” - generally an expert from the banking or finance sector - to hold an orientation meeting for smaller groups (20-30 people) during which the following topic areas are explored:
• family budget and management of savings;
• correct management of financial debt;
• dealing with emergencies and restructuring debt.
The methodology used in these meetings is active debate and group discussion, which allows us to break the taboos relating to financial matters and to have a discussion about lifestyles and family money-management through looking at an analysis of monthly expenditure. In this phase, collaborative good practices are introduced which can help people to save, informational and educational materials are distributed, and candidates are invited to take part in a brief exercise to build a family budget.

After the participants have selected their activity using the Social Cards, they develop it following the guidelines included in the Design/Generation Card. The workgroup comes together and discusses the idea in more detail, concentrating on the main aspects, and getting inspiration from the questions that are on the Card: What is it? Where does it take place? What is required? When should it be done? Who will do it? How much will it cost? Why do it? These questions stimulate discussion and guide the group towards defining the main features of the service.
As a final step, the workgroup is asked to give a name to their activity and to reflect carefully on this, both with regard to the positive effects and to potential issues or problems that may arise and how to deal with them.