How can a new ‘third place’ for digital participation be created in Hamburg – and what programmes, services and partnerships are needed to achieve this? The project team behind the new House of the Digital World (HddW) is addressing these questions.
The House of the Digital World is set to become an open space for digital education, culture and innovation – interdisciplinary, interconnected and accessible to diverse groups within Hamburg’s urban community. The key challenge is to develop concrete formats and programmes from this vision that promote social participation whilst also facilitating new forms of collaboration between institutions.
As part of the process with the Cross Innovation Hub, ideas for new perspectives on digital education and culture were developed in collaboration with the future operators of the House of the Digital World – Bücherhallen Hamburg, the Hamburg Adult Education Centre and the Centre for School and Youth Information (ZSJ). This was based on strategic guidelines that had previously been drawn up in an initial phase with nextMedia.Hamburg.
Building on this, concepts for a total of three programme prototypes were developed in interdisciplinary workshops during a second phase. The first approach is now being further developed: TiKi – Social Dinner with the Table AI.
The concept combines social interaction with experimental technology: an AI, in the form of a physical avatar, becomes part of a shared dinner. People from the wider community come together at one table to share perspectives, experiences and needs – whilst the table AI listens, groups topics together and highlights key insights. This creates an experimental format for digital participation that combines dialogue, technology and engagement, and which can be incorporated into the HddW’s future programme design.
The process was coordinated by the Business Development department of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft and implemented in collaboration with nextMedia.Hamburg and the Cross Innovation Hub. Two components were interwoven:
Component 1: Strategic guidelines by nextMedia.Hamburg
As part of an adaptive strategy development process, nextMedia.Hamburg worked with the future operators to develop key guidelines for future formats and offerings at the House of the Digital World. This was based on stakeholder interviews, which identified areas of tension, needs and potential relating to digital participation, education and culture.
Component 2: Co-creative workshops by the Cross Innovation Hub
Building on these guiding principles, the Cross Innovation Hub designed and facilitated a multi-stage workshop process to develop the first pilot projects.
This was preceded by a joint foresight day, during which the future operators systematically examined relevant trends and influencing factors in order to develop contrasting scenarios for Hamburg in 2040. These scenarios helped to identify future challenges and, at the same time, formed the starting point for the co-creative development of pilot projects. The interdisciplinary team was supplemented by five creative experts, whose input and diverse perspectives helped to sketch out initial formats that would bring the HddW to life even before its opening.
Image credit: Christoph Ingenhoven Architects Pixelflakes
The House of the Digital World is to be built on Gerhart-Hauptmann-Platz in Hamburg and will in future be run by the Bücherhallen Hamburg, the Hamburg Adult Education Centre and the Centre for School and Youth Information (ZSJ). The aim is to create an open space for digital education, culture and innovation that brings together different social groups and promotes digital participation.
Patrick Scheckelhoff is responsible for the conception and realisation of innovation-promoting formats at cross-industry interfaces at the Cross Innovation Hub.
He studied Cultural Studies (B.A.) at Leuphana University Lüneburg and Hong Kong Baptist University with a focus on cultural organisation and urban sociology. Prior to his studies, he completed vocational training as a media designer and gained experience in project management and event organisation in various non-profit associations and at festivals. Most recently, he worked at the Social Change Hub at Leuphana University Lüneburg.
Sean Weingarten is Programme Manager in the Conception & Implementation department of the Cross Innovation Hub. Previously, he was part of the Consulting & Training team, where he worked as project manager for the third round of the Creative Future Academy and the Music WorX Incubator 2022.
He completed his studies at HafenCity University Hamburg in the Culture of the Metropolis programme in 2017. This was followed by a phase of reorientation from cultural studies to artistic-practical work. He studied Digital Media at Leuphana University Lüneburg and Digital Arts at the City University of Hong Kong until 2023.
