MAZI project

Michael Smyth Centre for Interaction Design Edinburgh Napier University, UK @michael_smyth

MAZI means “together” in Greek.

The MAZI project is developing a toolkit for building local, community wireless networks: MAZI Zones.

MAZI project partners:

NITlab, University of Thessaly, Greece NetHood, Zurich-based non-profit organization Centre for Interaction Design, Edinburgh Napier University, UK Design Research Lab at the Berlin University of the Arts The Open University, UK INURA Zurich Institute SPC in London Neighbourhood Academy (Prinzessinnengarten) in Berlin unMonastery an nomadic group

H2020 CAPS: Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation

The objective of the research in this field is to harness the collaborative power of ICT networks to create collective awareness of sustainability threats and enable collective solutions.

Collective awareness platforms include several areas, such as collaborative consumption, getting facts/evidence from citizens for better decision making, driving sustainable behaviours and lifestyles, or developing alternative collaborative approaches to problem solving.

https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/collective-awareness-platforms-sustainability-and-social-innovation-caps

The advance of the commercial smart city vision brings the possibility of overly generic solutions that fail to address some needs of specific localities & communities.

MAZI will develop alternative Do-It-Yourself technology toolkits that:

• empower those who are in physical proximity to shape their hybrid urban space, according to the specificities of the respective local environment

• generate location-based collective awareness as a basis for fostering social cohesion, conviviality, participation in decision-making processes, self-organisation, knowledge sharing, and sustainable living

• facilitate interdisciplinary interactions around the design of hybrid space and the role of ICTs in society.

MAZI is grounded in the perspectives of existing grassroots initiatives.

The MAZI project understands the “smart city” project as an opportunity for sustainable living through technology.

The project is exploring ways that DIY networking technologies can be used, as a means and not just as an end.

The MAZI Toolkit is a combination of:

• wireless technology

• low-cost hardware

• free/libre/open source software (FLOSS) applications

for building local networks, known as community wireless networks.

4 pilot studies:

Prinzessinnengarten, Berlin

Urban Agriculture - Learning - Civic Discourse

CreekNet, Deptford, London

Citizen Science - Creativity - Civic Discourse - Education

Kraftwerk1, Zurich

Cooperative Working & Living - Sustainable Urbanism

unMonastery, Nomadic group

Social Clinics - Alternative Economies - Creativity

There will be an urban festival and symposium in Autumn 2018, in Edinburgh to showcase the work of the project and discuss the findings of the research.

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