Urbact - Gender Equal Cities

3E. COMMUNICATIONS

20 Jönköping Municipality (2019), 'Normstorm, norm-creative pictures and art', available at: https://www. includegender.org/gender-equality-in-practice/education/normstorm-norm-creative-pictures-and-art/

Local authorities have communication teams tasked with providing up-to-date information on public services, taxes, regulations, planning laws, new initiatives, elections, rights and much more to a variety of audiences. Both online and in print, these resources rely on visual graphics and descriptions to convey information which risk portraying women and men in stereotypical roles. Whether it be women represented as fulfilling care or domestic chores, while men perform physical labour or scientific work, the words and images the city uses are in danger of reinforcing outdated ideas about the family, workplace and what it means to be a man or a woman. On the other hand, with well- conceived guidance, these images and

messaging can instead represent the diversity of the city and the contributions of women and men in positive ways that instil a sense of civic pride and belonging. Projects like Normstorm20, from the municipality of Jönköping (Sweden), use participation to try to make these norms visible. In this project, the municipality supported a secondary-school project in which students created norm-critical visual materials for public exhibitions and for use by the municipality in their public communication. In addition, the SALAR Guide to Gender-Responsive Public Procurement mentioned in chapter 3C suggests adding a clause to contracts with design and photography agencies for mandatory diversity awareness training.

Normstorm

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It storms around norms

Photo: Estelle Pihl, Lova Sandwall, Julia Lagerstrand, Ida Nordström och Linn Klasson

Normstorm Normstorm

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Norms A norm typically signifies the normal , often implicitly accepted behaviour in a social group. Norms can be seen as unwritten rules and as the invisible framework that regulates how we are supposed to act in the grocery store or in a queue, or how we should greet each other, for instance. In this regard, norms are enabling and are needed in a society. But there are also norms that can limit people s potentials and lead to discrimination and personal violations. These limiting norms are in focus when working with Normstorm.

Norm criticism Norm criticism includes theory, methods and tools that displace the perspective from focusing on deviants to instead illuminate the norm that is taken for granted.

In norm-critical work, the starting point is that the existing norms are the problem, not the group(s) being discriminated against and violated. As such, the problem is looked at from a holistic perspective which enables change on a larger scale. Norm criticism is the central analytic tool of Normstorm to help visualise which norms are problematic and in need of change.

Norm creativity The term norm creativity brings the norm-critical analysis into a creative (re)construction. Norm creativity can be seen as the process of change after the norm-critical analysis that creates new action, patterns and new ways of thinking. Norm criticism helps us to visualise that which we may not want, while norm creativity helps us examine, and practice, what we actually do want instead. This is a central part of Normstorm because the purpose of the work is not only to analyse and problematise but also to create something new and innovative.

Photo: Estelle Pihl, Lova Sandwall, Julia Lagerstrand, Ida Nordström och Lin Klasson

It storm s around norm