Play AUT the Box, Playable cities for all (PAtB) builds on ASD Publics to reinforce and go one step further in the improvement of public play spaces for children with autism and their families (the AUT-Community). By co-designing the Box AUT, an adaptation of the “play containers” installed in the city’s public space, and piloting Games AUT, the games and toys they contain, the project prioritises a community that has traditionally been underrepresented in public policies and actions.
The PAtB consortium will prototype a living lab for the co-creation of environmentally and autism-friendly play infrastructure with key stakeholders and end-users. PAtB will deepen the knowledge on the AUT-Community’s needs and on how these can be translated into the design of concrete play infrastructure putting into practice the ASD Public design guidelines and pushing the city of Barcelona into a position where it can become a world leader and a pioneer in real universal accessibility.
PAtB will pilot environmental and autism-friendly play infrastructure to promote social inclusion for the AUT-Community and improve their experience of the city. The specific objectives are: co-designing (>6) prototypes for play infrastructure and co-design an environmental and autism-friendly version of the containers installed in the city’s public spaces (Box AUT)
It will do so through 4 co-creation workshops with AUT-Community members, city officials, autism experts and play infrastructure designers. Games Aut prototypes will be tested and displayed during a public event in the «0-99» play space in Les Glories, Barcelona.
19th September
On Tuesday 19th September the two PAtB project leaders, Blanca Calvo and Raquel Colacios, introduced the project to the group of students of the carpentry school of the Escola Industrial de Sabadell who will be involved in the co-design and fabrication of the Games AUT.
We had the collaboration of two families from Aprenem who introduced the autistic spectrum and some specificities that children on the autistic spectrum share when playing.
Saturday 7th October
The first co-design session established guidelines, objectives, visions, and challenges families face while their kids play. The information gathered in the format of guided discussion is the first step for the design of the Games AUT and Box AUT.
The session involved families of children with autism, autism experts, therapists, designers, and manufacturers.
Saturday 25th November
The second co-creation workshop served to deepen the design guidelines for the game container, establishing agreements regarding design elements and strategies for the container and its surroundings. At the same time, it served to present the first prototypes of games and establish a discussion regarding the problems and potential of the same.
TURBA (Urban Transformation and Global Change Laboratory) research group is the project leader of ASD Publics. It is part of the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). TURBA has extensive experience in European co-creation projects. Examples of these initiatives are PERFORM, COOLSCHOOLS ,T-Factor and EPSN.
Global Institute of Neurodevelopment Integrated Care (IGAIN) is a national reference centre for the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders and treatment. It trains professionals in ASD and accredits ASD diagnostic instruments in America and Europe. It offers evidence-based treatment for people with ASD throughout their life cycle.
Barcelona City Council participates through the involvement of the Area of Ecology, Urban Planning and Mobility, and the collaboration of the Municipal Institute for Persons with Disabilities (IMPD) and the Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence (IIAB).
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