The Power of Awkwardness

 

The Power of Awkwardness
(A Guest Post by Dr. Beverly Pasian)

International women’s day. A day in the calendar considered a key moment for the global community to highlight issues, initiatives and progress concerning women’s equality. Not today. This, my first blog in this new series concerning smart city projects, is about awkwardness. Specifically, the discomfort ‘achieved’ in interviews for my recent smart city project research. I offer these comments to highlight how difficult moments revealed enormous areas for growth and as of yet untapped potential. Smart projects that, if achieved, will contribute to the quality of women— and perhaps more genders – who seek it every day and not just on March 8th.

(A bit of context… about six years ago, I redirected my project management research career. I had had a satisfying practitioner and research experiences, but wanted to be more socially responsible in these domains. I turned toward smart cities and finished a second PhD [read: labour of love] this past fall. My own blog series soon to appear on projectmanagement.com will reflect some of those observations.)

Two conversations and one moment in my data analysis triggered the idea behind this particular blog. The first was an interview conducted with the CEO of a company contributing to the underlying data infrastructure of smart city projects. The tech was interesting, of course, but my interest concerned the quality of life achieved in the cities where the tech was used. The specific focus was a village where their tech leadership was also seen in the municipal government. Rich examples were given reflecting age-based needs in the digital communication solutions.

Were any considerations given to gender, I asked. It’s been well documented that the experiences of women navigating streets, neighbourhoods and even city-based services were different than another gender doing the same.

I had struck a small chord.

No, he said. Balance was achieved by working with people who had volunteered for the projects. There was not a “real demand” to a dedicated approach on this topic.

With deference, I pushed a tiny bit  further.

Okay… And in your international experience? Do you imagine looking through gender lens when influencing smart city projects? Of course. When going to a smart city conference, the majority are still men. There is a demand to increase and to push the gender balance.

The awkwardness had become undeniable. Even though I had only one or two more questions, the interview had come to an end. Afterwards, I realised the truth within that awkwardness. And a new point of analysis in my doctoral research had revealed itself.

The goal of my doctoral research was to answer the question… How do projects contribute to quality of life in smart cities? My answer is represented in the figure below. I call it the smart city heartbeat (LUB dub, LUB dub J). Across 13 essential themes, smart city projects were distributed. More commentary will be offered in future blogs, but today the focus will remain on women.

How do projects affect quality of life in smart cities? (Pasian, 2024)

I studied eight cities and more than 1000 projects. Ten projects were specifically and explicitly designed for women and girls.

The city of Utrecht, the Netherlands had one of those projects men — particularly focused on the needs of migrants and refugees. The Neighbourhood Academy was set up to provide a safe space for women to meet and support each other. Many cities have their own versions, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Oslo, Milan, Birmingham, Gothenburg, Leipzig, and Munich.

A lack of specific gendered-focus smart city projects can be seen elsewhere. Motivated by my case, study analysis, I moved onto a larger collection of projects. Using a few city ranking schemes, I drew a sample list of cities from Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Another 3000 projects were compiled from the period 2021-2023. A few dozen specifically addressed the needs of women and girls. They included:

GEAC - (Girls Empowered Against Crime)
To prevent young women at severe risk of becoming involved in crime, gangs and violence, entering the Criminal Justice System. KYC has created a multi-faceted Intervention Service, collaborating with partners and providing activities and support services that cater to the specific needs of young woman who are vulnerable.

Bromley & Croydon Women’s Aid (#RelationshipGoals)
To develop a project to raise awareness of healthy relationships in secondary schools and youth settings, by providing talks and group work with the aim of tackling gendered attitudes and behaviours that lead to criminal activity. 

Agents for Change Young Women’s Project will deliver group writing and performance workshops and one-to-one mentoring from award-winning women writers to young women aged 13-18 who live in Hounslow and are on the fringes of gangs or criminal groups.  The project empowers marginalized young women to find their voices, become agents for change, writing about their lives and issues faced by young women, and publishing and presenting their work to young people to inspire them.

SafeCityYEG is a web-based mapping tool that allows Edmontonians to report where they feel unsafe or safe in their communities and why.

Women4Climate Mentorship Program matches young women who are taking action on climate, with mentors.

Greater Copenhagen Cleantech Impact Accelerator: In the project, existing networks in Skåne and Själland will be opened up and made more accessible at the same time as new network platforms are developed to meet needs that are not met today. A special network for women in the cleantech industry will be started. We do this to create a more cohesive community for environmental technology throughout the Greater Copenhagen area and to make it easier for companies to know where to turn to take advantage of available services.

W4RES: Scaling up the involvement of women in supporting an accelerating market uptake of renewable energy sources for heating and cooling.

To wrap up this first blog, I’d like to recall another conversation in another interview as part of my research. It was with project manager and we were talking about the secondary outcomes associated with a lighting installation in a parking garage. It was a point of pride for the city in question. The technology integration and data collection was state of the art and serving long-term needs of the city. I asked about safety. Quizzically looking at me, he asked what I meant. I said lighting installations can serve multiple purposes. Beautification being one, safety another.  The quizzical expression remained.

What if your daughter was using that parking garage? Would she be impressed or even aware of the data collection potential? Would the aesthetic appeal matter? Or would she be more concerned with the coverage of the lighting that would make her walk from the office or an evening with her friends safer? I recognised the vibe. Awkwardness had re-emerged.

Unlike the first conversation, this one didn’t end quickly. Bringing up a family member in a professional setting is often and rightfully dismissed. Such things are typically out of bounds. But before a morning stand-up meeting and after the week’s celebratory drinks ending a project, the project manager is also a citizen. My question was disarming and revelatory without being threatening. It was utterly relatable. He thanked me for the question and the thoughts it provoked.

Women’s equality is an ongoing and unachieved goal in smart cities and associated projects. Awkwardness surrounding the same projects is similarly ongoing, and regularly achieved. Both have value. The question is… How can projects and project managers use one to achieve the other?