The Use of Minecraft for Community Participation in Design of Public Space

Block by Block is an innovative partnership between Mojang, the makers of the videogame Minecraft, and UN-Habitat. Block by block uses Minecraft as a community participation tool in urban design and fund the implementation of public space projects all over the world, with a focus on poor communities in developing countries.

This training will not only provide participants with an understanding of how to use Minecraft as a design tool. They will also be given the necessary tools and practices to deliver a complete 4 to 5 days block by block workshop in any city.

The session is divided into two sections:
A, Technical support — How to download, install and setup Minecraft. Learn useful techniques related to urban furniture and landscape design and how to deal with technical problems.
B, Planning Block by Block workshop — Participants will learn how to start a block by block training from scratch and what are the required documents and the basic materials needed. The participants will have a quick overview of the two core presentations, usually given during the workshop; UN-Habitat’s Public Space Programme and the importance of Minecraft as a participatory planning tool. Finally, the participants will learn about the materials produced post-Minecraft workshop like the final model, petition list and others. Following the two sections of the session, a time for Practice and Q&A; will be given for the trainees.

This training event is intended for a variety of stakeholders, ranging from municipal officials and NGOs to project funders and implementers.