This is my keynote presentation at the 2014 PURPLSOC Preparatory Workshop at the University of the Danube in Austria. PURPLSOC is an acronym for the Pursuit of Pattern Languages for Societal Change. I discussed seven "seeds" (or concepts) for working with pattern languages that would be useful in developing more equitable, peaceful, and sustainable futures.

1. Pattern Languages for
Public Problem Solving
Seven Seeds for Theory and Practice
November 14, 2014
Krems, Austria
Douglas Schuler
The Evergreen State College
The Public Sphere Project

2. • Purpose: Exploring opportunities for focusing our
work
• Disclaimer: This work is exploratory. I’m not
attempting to be definitive or authoritative.
• Approach: A vision, followed by seven seeds with
questions and ideas (not answers). (And the seeds
are not autonomous.)

3. Vision
Pattern languages could play vital roles in
helping to bring about positive social change.

4. How might this come about?
• Pattern languages could help document the problem solving aspects in a
given domain (e.g. nature of problem, forces, indicators, marshaling
resources, resolving problems and sub-problems, goals)
• Pattern language development could provide community building
opportunities (to do one project — but also to promote / shepherd /
market the ability for others to do the same)
• Pattern languages could provide additional opportunities if they were
more accessible, attractive, and easier to use
• Pattern languages could promote interdisciplinary work by providing a
shared “neutral” language
• Pattern languages could promote distributed, loosely coordinated work

5. Seven Seeds
1. Appeal
2. Use
3. Theory
4. Meta-patterns
5. Cataloging & Formalization
6. Public Problem Domains
7. Community

6. SEED 1
Appeal
• What do we like about patterns & pattern languages?
(this I will not try to bias here…)
• Why do we think they’d be useful for social change?
• problem-solving orientation
• good level of generality
• holistic, systems orientation
• more!

7. SEED 2
Theory
Two main types (I think):
1. About patterns & pattern languages themselves
(generative processes, piecemeal growth, network-based,
…)
2. About the use of patterns & pattern languages

8. SEED 3 (1/9)
Use
• In what ways are pattern languages used?
• In what ways could pattern languages be used?
• How can we make pattern languages more useful
and accessible?
• What barriers are there?
• What difference does the actual form make?
• Is there pattern language life-cycle?
• And can / should a methodology be formalized?

9. SEED 3 (2/9)
Use
In what ways are and could pattern languages used?
• By whom? Children? students? activists?
• In what arena or setting?
• Using what guidelines, scripts, or protocol
• For what purpose?

10. SEED 3 (3/9)
Use
• What difference does the form make? Cards,
games, master plan, online, posters, interviews,
multi-media productions (StreamScapes)
• Patterns and pattern languages can be thought of
as “social objects” [See Iba Tasashi’s dialogue
workshop]

11. SEED 3 (4/9)
Use
Game
based on
patterns

12. SEED 3
(5/9)
Use
Online
game

13. SEED 3 (6/9)
Use
Poster — English & Spanish
Anti-Patterns

14. SEED 3 (7/9)
Use
Patterns in Russian ~~
surviving the cultural &
translational trip?

15. SEED 3 (8/9)
Use
Turning patterns into action
Worksheets: Kenneth Gillgren

16. SEED 3 (9/9)
Use
More action planning
Worksheets: Kenneth Gillgren

17. SEED 4
Meta-patterns
Can / should we develop a meta-pattern language (or?) that
would help us throughout the pattern language life-cycle.
(Or is that too meta??)
Generating
Selecting
Using (to generate
ideas; for planning;
for fostering
imagination, group
skills, etc.)
Configuring (arranging)
Refining
Linking
Annotating
Discussing
Critiquing
Combining
Splitting
Evaluating
Validating
Indexing
Categorizing
Incentivizing
Problem mapping
Visualizing
Stakeholder identifying

18. SEED 5 (1/3)
Cataloging and Formalization
1. Reference model is a union of the features in the
patterns of the world’s pattern languages
2. “Card catalog” contains references (and links) to the
world’s pattern languages
3. Computer support for everything we need…
• API and/or database sharing access to parts of patterns,
access to multiple pattern languages
• Is it possible to formalize the representation of the force
diagram (syntactically and with a shared tag-set) to
accommodate more sharing?

19. SEED 5 (2/3)
Cataloging and Formalization
Computer-Aided-Mashup
Random patterns from three pattern languages were selected as
an experiment in “forced connections”
Voices of the Unheard
(LV)
Retreat and Reflection
(LV)
Seasoned Timing (GW)
Connection to the Earth
(APL)
Online Deliberation (LV)
Floor Surface (APL)
Purpose (GW)
Spirit (GW)
Big Tent for Social
Change (LV)
Power Research (LV)
Go Meta (GW)
Seeing the Forest,
Seeing the Trees
(GW)

20. PATTERN LANGUAGE RE-MIX
Seasoned Timing Connection to the Earth Retreat and Reflection
Image for Seasoned Timing: Liz West SEED 5 (3/3)

21. SEED 6
Public Problem Domain(s)
Work with a small number of communities to develop
pattern languages collaboratively. This could focus
attention (including our own) and we could learn by
doing how pattern languages could help.
Suggestions: Climate Change, Government and
Business Corruption, Public Education (not just
“Education in the Public Schools”)

22. SEED 7
Community
Strengthen our
communities (which
includes us, potential
vs actual direct users,
potential vs actual
indirect users)
How to attract people, attention, and resources and grow.

23. last word…
Understand our own interest around pattern
languages
Thanks!
Expand our community
Critique and improve these seeds…