Project 3: Retracing sustainable platform cooperative models // Aalborg University

The project will focus on promoting the emergence of a platform cooperative in the city of Aalborg, relying on the adaptation of existing technologies (e.g. coopcycle.org in the delivery sector). By involving university graduates and migrant workers, the initiative allows tracing the network of support needed for the formation of platform cooperatives. This allows putting at the centre of co-design activities organizational models for platform cooperatives.

PhD Researcher: Anannya Bhowmik Paul

Anannya’s work sits at the intersection of platform cooperativism and participatory design, developed in collaboration with Aalborg Municipality.

Her research is driven by a curiosity about how alternative economic imaginaries can be made tangible and accessible to those most affected by precarious labour conditions. Some of her early research outcomes include participatory narratives and tools that engage precariously employed populations in Aalborg with the concept of platform cooperativism, as well as a prototype for a participatory incubation process for early-stage platform cooperatives.

Before entering academia, Anannya spent several years practicing as a service designer, where her work centred on public infrastructures and the complexities of designing within civic systems. That practice deepened her conviction that design holds a particular responsibility toward social equity, a thread that runs through her scholarly work today.