Design for Territories is a rather recent field of study and research. It began to be outlined at the end of the ‘90s and was initially established as a direct application to real situations through action research activities or educational experimentations. Thus, situated design methods are applied and verified, models and processes are improved and specific tools are developed. The aim of this paper is to describe this field of study’s state-of-the-art in order to fulfil the goal of outlining the distinctive features of design for territories from a theoretical point of view. What does Design for Territories deal with? What are its strategies and its methods? The paper aims to answer these questions through a review of design research experiences and the debate with experts in the field, who have been involved in this study through interviews and focus groups.

The article explores the use of participatory design processes, methods, and tools to develop interactive healthcare and wellbeing solutions involving children with motor disabilities and their caregiving system. This contribution provides a theoretical framework focused on the engagement roles that children participating in co-design processes can play, providing the description of BODYSOUND, a pilot project developed within the SISCODE H2020 European project. We will present the co-design process divided into two main phases: co-creation and co-development. For each of these phases, we carried out iterative design actions that will be presented according to the role with which children are engaged, the targets involved, and methods to collect data. All of these were subjected to the primary goal of each design action. The final part systematizes the results of the analysis and identifies different goals and methods for children’s participation according to specific design phases.

This chapter explores the potential of co-creation and user innovation, investigating the physical-motor needs of children diagnosed with cerebral palsy with specific attention to the translation of movement in sound stimuli. It describes the co-design and development of BODYSOUND, a smart system that exploits a playful activity to encourage movements and transform them into sound.

Contemporary societies have been strongly characterized by the emersion of hybrid economies, which in several cases, through making, pursue goals of urban regeneration and social engagement. Recently, the Municipality of Milan has started to be interested in several hybrid and collaborative experiences, focused on: 1) the creation of local markets; 2) the revitalization of peripheral areas; 3) the engagement and its inhabitants. This paper presents the first step of a collaborative study developed by the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano and the Institute of Design of IIT of Chicago within the Sister Cities policy program. The results of preliminary research activities, which wanted to investigate the relationship between design, manufacturing and social inclusion will be presented. The main focus will be on the actual and potential role of design within these hybrid activities with a particular attention to its capabilities to support the creation/acquisition of Social Capital both at individuals and territorial levels.