Staging collaborative design and innovation: an introduction

This chapter introduces the concept of staging by briefly sketching the research traditions it is inspired by (See chapter 2) to expand upon the meaning and implications of the metaphor and the aspects to be kept in mind. This builds up to an introduction the empirical sections of the book illustrating different types of staging efforts focusing on, 1) participatory co-design with multiple actors, 1) changes in networks and organizations through design of spaces and events, 3) interactions between research and innovation, 4) experimentation and learning. The sections illustrate how practitioners can adopt different parts of the repertoire depending their situation. The chapters show staging as overt and strategic, often relating to casting and involvement of actors, designing and preparing events and the scenic space, but also to the creation of objects as a form of props that form the conditions, actors equipping, and infrastructure for an envisioned development.