Making Co-Design Possible: Creating Rural Infrastructures for Interaction and Wellbeing to Address Social Resilience and Sustainability

Growing inequalities and illness among citizens call for innovative methods for developing resilient societies. This paper highlights the importance of urban design, which includes aspects of interactive communities, using participatory approaches such as co-design early in the process. To exemplify the method of co-design, this paper uses one case study from northern Sweden with two growing local initiatives, one focused on common cultivation, and another connected to youth activities for sustainability and recycling. Using design methods such as braindrawing and the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How WWWWH enables people to stay in the conceptual stages, develop it and understand it further. Ideas that emerge from local initiatives can expand beyond the group itself, fostering more interactions and places for people to gather. Supporting these projects can significantly impact local communities by improving social and cultural sustainability, making it essential to promote community-led initiatives in urban design to enhance human wellbeing. The findings show the importance of embedding relational infrastructuring participatory approaches early in the process for designers and planners to identify local drivers for change that is aligned with community values, as well as fostering wellbeing through meaningful long-term involvement. Design can serve as an enabling practice contributing to ecological, social, and cultural sustainability.