Fay Jones School Professor Contributes Engaged Listening Essay to Participatory Design Book

Courtesy Noah Billig

The book 'Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity' features practical ideas and inspiration from nearly 50 contributors from around the world.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Participatory design begins with engaged listening — a practice that allows designers to set distractions aside and hear what people affected by a project most want and need.

Noah Billig, an assistant professor of landscape architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, contributed an essay on engaged listening to a book published by Island Press in 2017. Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity features practical ideas and inspiration from nearly 50 contributors from around the world.

Billig's short essay lays out the ground rules for "present engaged listening," a technique that emphasizes the other-focused approach at the heart of democratic design.

"In order to really engage with people, we must start by listening," Billig said. "That means setting aside our distractions, letting go of our agendas and really listening."

It even means being prepared to learn that one's expertise may not be needed. Billig draws on personal experience in the case study presented with his essay, which reflects on his work trying to determine open space needs for three squatter settlements in Istanbul.

Billig's perception that the neighborhoods needed expanded green spaces turned out to be wrong, from the perspective of the people he interviewed. He learned that he could better serve the community by documenting existing open spaces to help guard against encroaching neighborhood redevelopment.

"Community designers need to be open to the possibility that their intended services might not be needed or that other services are critical," Billig writes. "To avoid design missteps, designers can start by listening and remaining open to opportunities that they had not imagined on their own."

The Fay Jones School hosted an event in December to celebrate the book, just before its national launch. Three of the book's six editors — Randy Hester, Marcia McNally and David de la Pena — attended. Hester has previously served as the school's Verna C. Garvan Distinguished Visiting Professor in Landscape Architecture.

According to its publishers, "Design as Democracy offers fresh insights for creating meaningful dialogue between designers and communities and for transforming places with justice and democracy in mind."

The book is meant to be used in a manner similar to a cookbook, with ideas browsed, sampled and adapted to meet each community's particular needs.