Social design for whom and what purpose? : community network knowledge, conversation-as-commoning and design research

![CDATA[This paper proposes a role for design research through engagement with conversational learning as a form of knowledge commons. The practice of commoning provides a cohesive framework that links participants through something that is shared, and co-produced. Conversation-as-commoning is proposed as a co-design methodology about social learning for shaping possibilities for future and current social change, working at a local level. Conversations can be understood as a form of knowledge commons - that is, they are shared by those that produce it, and not owned by any one in particular. The role of the designer in these contexts can be to work iteratively and collaboratively with community knowledge networks to identify creative phases and new ideas about social practices emerging through conversational learning. Designers must play a pivotal role in commitment to ethical actions that acknowledge the complex social, cultural and material interconnections between people, things and places. The agency provided by conversational learning can help inform new understandings about interconnected knowledge. This approach is explored through a case study of community gardens research, where research generated from an initial top-down brief is re-evaluated to reveal the workings of knowledge commons. These conversations are explored as instances of commoning where new knowledge is generated through dialogue between design researchers and participants.]]