24th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia

A Sandbox for (Designing) Democratic Technologies

Enrol here

We invite researchers, designers and practitioners to participate in our full-day, in-person workshop 1 December at MUM 2025, which will explore the intersection of design, democracy, and technology. This workshop provides a hands-on, collaborative forum for reimagining interactive systems in ways that promote democratic values, civic participation and societal care.

Building on our evolving Sandbox for Democratic Technologies work, the workshop uses role-play, scenario-based design, and iterative, low-fidelity prototyping to critically examine how technologies, values and power relations are entangled and how interaction designers can contribute to constructing a positive, democratic digital society of the future.
Participants will engage in three main sessions: introductions with position paper discussions, prototyping, and a collective reflection session. Each of these sessions is split up into smaller activities to encourage interaction and dialogue. The sandbox approach provides an experimental, safe, imaginative space for exploring contested priorities and testing new design directions without risk

Participants can apply in one of two ways:

•    By submitting a (2--4 pages, including references) reflecting on ongoing or future research, design methods, or case studies relevant to democracy and technology.

•    By submitting a (a brief paragraph of up to 250 words) describing their background, experience, and motivation for joining the workshop.

   

• Important Dates:
• The early registration deadline for MUM 2025 is 4 November 2025. Participants can also register for the workshop day only.
• Application to participate: 13 November 2025 (AoE).
• After this date you can send an email to nichoss@ifi.uio.no if you are interested in attending the workshop.
• Notification of acceptance: 17 November 2025 (AoE)
• Workshop: 1 December 2025

Submissions can be made via this enrolment form. Files should be sent in non-anonymised PDF format. At least one author of each accepted position paper must register for and attend the workshop.

Workshop materials and accepted position papers will be made available online before the conference to support networking and meaningful discussions. Post-workshop plans include a special issue, an article in Interactions magazine, and industry-facing outputs to disseminate reflections and findings broadly.

Join us in Enna, Italy, for a day of collaborative experimentation, critical reflection, and envisioning more democratic and inclusive technological futures!

Details about the conference can be found here MUM2025

The workshop is organised by UiO researchers
Nicholas Stevens 
Jasmin Niess
Alma Culén

Workshop Timetable