From the Map to the Territory: The Collective Intelligence Canvas
Beyond Workshops: Building Intelligent Communities
I would like to present an academic perspective on how my Civic Design practice has evolved over the last twenty years. Initially, this experience was documented in the “Civic Design Method Whitepaper.” Over time, however, continuous work in various contexts revealed the need to reorganize and expand those ideas. This led to the creation of the “Civic Design Toolbox,” a set of resources that, true to its name, serves as a versatile toolkit for those seeking a more coherent and sustainable approach to social and urban transformation.
In this piece, which is the first of a four-part series, I will focus on the Collective Intelligence Canvas (CIC). This canvas is a key tool for guiding Civic Design projects, especially in their initial phase, referred to as “Situate.” Nonetheless, it can also prove useful in later stages. Over the coming articles, I will delve into the Circular Process, the Co-Design Canvas, and the Civic Realm Matrix—all elements that, together, give shape to a holistic approach to civic practice.
To frame this approach, the Civic Design Toolbox is underpinned by four main actions: Situate, Socialize, Co-Design, and Implement. These actions spring from observing processes that often begin with unclear objectives or get suspended prematurely. Taken together, these four phases aim to infuse coherence into the planning and execution of projects involving communities, public institutions, and other local stakeholders.
If we imagine this in terms of an expedition, the Situate phase parallels mapping out the route and clarifying the objective: identifying participants, defining shared goals, and understanding the territory—physical or conceptual—in which we operate. At this stage, the Collective Intelligence Canvas stands out as a tool for structuring essential aspects: the guiding questions, the resources at hand, how governance is organized, and the manner in which decisions will be made.
Throughout my years in Civic Design, I have frequently observed a common mistake: initiating co-design actions without having clarified, alongside the community, the fundamental question framing the problem or opportunity at stake. This often results in workshops functioning as mere validations of preconceived notions, rather than a genuine process of shared creation. By contrast, the Collective Intelligence Canvas encourages a prior, collective reflection: Why are we here? What do we hope to solve or transform? How do we plan to incorporate new voices and perspectives?
The Twelve Elements of the Collective Intelligence Canvas
The Collective Intelligence Canvas (CIC) proposes a journey through twelve essential elements that together provide a panoramic view of what a Civic Design project anchored in Collective Intelligence entails. At first glance, it may appear exhaustive; however, its value lies in flexibility: each community or team decides which points to prioritize and in what sequence to address them.
Team and Leadership: Identify the individuals who will facilitate, organize, or drive the process. It is crucial to ensure diversity in backgrounds and to align the team’s skill sets with project requirements.
Funding and Resources: Examine the origin of the funds, how equitably they are distributed, and how transparent the management is. The budget scale can vary, but clarity fosters trust.
Purpose and Objectives: Pinpoint the main goals of the endeavor, specifying short-, medium-, and long-term aims that align with the community’s needs and interests.
Governance and Structure: Define the decision-making architecture and how potential conflicts will be handled. It describes the distribution of responsibilities and accountability mechanisms.
People and Communities: Focus on identifying the relevant stakeholders and on building productive relationships. In Civic Design, planning “from above” without engaging those who inhabit or will be affected by the territory is inconceivable.
Spaces and Environments: Reflect on the physical or virtual locations where activities will take place. Accessibility, inclusiveness, and adaptability significantly influence the quality of participation.
Timelines, Rhythms, and Cycles: Underscore the importance of structured calendars and coherent dynamics that prevent participant fatigue and sustain engagement throughout the process.
Communication and Documentation: Emphasize the significance of recording and disseminating everything generated. Without systematic efforts, collective learning becomes fragmented, and replicability in other settings is hampered.
Physical-Digital Hybridization: Recognize that our contemporary reality integrates offline and online dimensions. A strategic blending of both expands participation and increases opportunities for co-creation, while also accounting for potential technological gaps.
Prototyping: Encourage experimentation with tangible or simulated proposals. This step promotes small-scale testing so that stakeholders can validate ideas prior to full-scale implementation.
Inclusion: Highlight the need to incorporate diverse populations—varying ages, abilities, socioeconomic situations, or cultural backgrounds—and to deploy specific strategies ensuring their effective involvement.
Conviviality: Underscore the collaborative atmosphere. An environment where interactions are empathetic and constructive enhances community commitment and stimulates creativity.
Although the CIC is most often associated with the Situate phase of the Civic Design Toolbox, its principles are equally valuable in shaping subsequent phases—Socialize, Co-Design, and Implement. During Socialize, for instance, elements like Communication and Physical-Digital Hybridization may be especially relevant to foster broad, accessible conversations. In the Co-Design phase, Prototyping and Inclusion can prove crucial, while in Implement, the focus may shift toward evaluation and the prospect of iterating the process.
In my experience, each community and each project will place different emphases. Some initiatives need to prioritize governance and funding, while others focus on conviviality and media hybridization. The Canvas offers a roadmap that helps ensure no essential aspect is overlooked.
Conclusions and Future Outlook: Toward a Situated Collective Intelligence
When putting the CIC into practice, it becomes evident that it is not a matter of checking boxes but of reshaping how we understand relationships among citizens, governmental entities, and diverse stakeholders. Transitioning from a framework where “experts decide and people provide feedback” to one that is participatory—where the community is a protagonist—demands a cultural shift. The Collective Intelligence Canvas catalyzes this change by revealing the complexity of factors driving a project’s success.
The individual or team acting as facilitator is vital. Their role involves planning each step, documenting discussions and decisions, and fostering an environment where diverse voices feel included. Such skills are honed through experience and openness to learning from both successes and setbacks.
Equally noteworthy is the integration of Physical-Digital Hybridization, which requires careful balancing. Technology expands the capacity for engagement but should not overshadow the importance of face-to-face interaction, essential for trust and empathy building. Finding the right balance strengthens both the reach and the depth of the process.
Documentation is also a fundamental aspect. Without it, sharing insights or replicating innovations in different contexts is difficult. Promising initiatives may fade away if their results and methodologies remain unpublished or inaccessible.
All in all, the Collective Intelligence Canvas paves the way for a “situated collective intelligence,” a knowledge generated through the dialogue of multiple actors—each with unique backgrounds and competencies—aimed at addressing concrete challenges or leveraging opportunities in a given context. This is not about amassing participants in a mere consultation exercise but about ensuring everyone is genuinely engaged and recognized within the project, legitimizing contributions and translating them into collective action.
This article is the first in a series examining the Civic Design Toolbox. In upcoming installments, I will explore the Circular Process, the Co-Design Canvas, and the Civic Realm Matrix. Each offers its own viewpoint, and together they reinforce Civic Design’s ability to respond to today’s complex challenges. The broader goal is to equip professionals, citizens, and institutions with a robust methodological foundation to undertake ambitious projects, ranging from neighborhood initiatives to large-scale urban transformations.
If you’re drawn to Civic Design that goes beyond formalistic participation and genuinely fosters co-creation, the Collective Intelligence Canvas can be a highly effective resource. I hope that, upon using it, you will see how adaptable it is and discover how to tailor it to your local reality. “Situated collective intelligence” develops step by step, and each successful project brings in new insights that expand the possibilities for future undertakings.
This tool, alongside the other components of the Toolbox, points us toward a model where the community assumes an active role in shaping solutions, supported by a methodological framework that promotes transparency as well as shared responsibility. Ultimately, this aims to create participatory spaces where innovation taps into local knowledge, and where outcomes become more legitimate and sustainable over time, reinforcing the connection between collective aspirations and the policies or infrastructures that ultimately bring them to life.