crea.visions

Crea.Visions is a computational co-creation tool developed within the Creativity and Cognition Lab and the Tech-Enhanced Participatory Democracy units. Initially designed as an image-blending application, it has evolved into a powerful text-to-image tool for creative expression and participatory urban planning.

Since its launch in 2020, Crea.Visions has engaged over 1,000 participants, producing 25,000 images across Europe. The platform is tailored for community-specific actions, enabling geotagging of issues within towns and facilitating the submission of solutions connected with existing NGOs. We have curated a collection of impactful visuals that represent diverse people and issues, fostering democratic conversations.

Empowering citizens to actively engage in urban planning, societal discussions, and decision-making, Crea.Visions uses tools such as Human-AI Co-Creative Image Editing, Interactive Galleries, workshops, and participatory design to enhance communication among the public, researchers, and decision-makers.

The project continues to expand its efforts to engage diverse communities, using Crea.Visions as a foundation for addressing complex societal and environmental issues. Organizations, educational institutions, municipalities, and others are invited to participate and collaborate to further develop the project. For more information, please get in touch with us.

Objectives

Encouraging Participatory Democracy and Policy-Making

Facilitating inclusive conversations on value-based societal issues, future scenario planning, and decision-making.

Democratizing GenAI Interactions

Crafting contextually relevant content and fostering human-centered, hybrid intelligent interactions.

Fostering Creative Problem-Solving for Societal Change

Empowering creative problem-solving and improving communication to drive societal change.

20+ Partners
1,000+ Citizens

6 unique contexts
4 countries
5 exhibitions

25,000+ images
30+ events

crea.visions activities

2023

Visions of Aarhus

Parisian Problems and Solutions

Identifying problems and solutions in Parisian neighbourhoods using GAN + Stable Diffusion.

Belgrade Gardens

What changes would citizens like to see on the streets of Belgrade?

2022

Future of Venice

European Research Council

Workshop exploring and highlighting the potential of AI-enhacncement in citizen science.

2021

Climate Summit Denmark

2020

Sustainable Developmental Goals

Our process

Create partnerships

Schools, researchers, conferences, NGOs, municipalities.

Implement AI technology

Participatory design research, implement cutting-edge AI models, create interfaces and applications.

Engage and educate

Workshops, talks.

Outreach and communication

Dissemination events, exhibitions, presentations to decision-making groups, debates.

crea.visions gallery

Bol. The image depicts a tall clock tower attached to a large, multi-story building. The architectural style suggests it might be a historical or significant public building. There are several cars and people visible at the base of the building, which suggest it is situated in a busy, urban environment. The sky is cloudy, adding a dramatic effect to the scene. The façade of the building is covered with ivy or some kind of climbing plants, giving it an aged appearance.

Free time walking in flowers. The image depicts a charming, picturesque scene in what appears to be a quaint village or town. There is half-timbered architecture represented by the buildings with exposed wooden beams and plastered walls. The buildings have a traditional, historical look. In the foreground stands a young boy in a blue jacket amidst a vibrant garden bed of flowers including tulips, daisies, and other varieties. The pathway is cobblestone and winds between the buildings. The sky is partly cloudy with patches of blue, suggesting a serene, pleasant day. Trees in the background are in bloom, adding to the cheerful and lively atmosphere.

Flowers and decorated streets. The image depicts a city street adorned with numerous floral decorations. There are flowers in various vibrant colors arranged along the pavement, in garden beds, and on trees. A person is riding a bicycle, which is also decorated with flowers. In the background, there is a sizeable historic-looking building, possibly a government building or a museum. Several cars on the street are also covered with flowers, adding to the festive atmosphere. The overall scene suggests a celebration or a special event where flowers play a central role.

A calm night. The image depicts a charming, narrow cobblestone street at night, illuminated by warm, yellow streetlights. There are several buildings with white walls and some with lights inside, casting a cozy glow through the windows. On the left side, there is a large tree with lights illuminating its leaves. The scene has a serene and picturesque atmosphere, with a clear, starry sky visible overhead. The buildings are quaint and closely packed, reflecting the architectural style of a small, picturesque town or village.

See more pictures here

crea.visions Aarhus video

Produced by Jesper Fleng.

Hear from our collaborators and partners

Crea.visions stems from a very practical question. A question and ambition that I think we all share: How do we invite citizens into an open, value-based and inclusive conversation about the future of the city and the challenges we face on the way there? Here, crea.visions of Aarhus is a suitably ambitious, creative and tangible proposal.

Bo Fristed Head of Innovation, Technology, and Creativity at Aarhus Municipality

Crea.visions reimagine the future, merging art, technology, and citizen collaboration. It's an exciting example of addressing climate change as a 'wicked problem'. I am very happy with the great result that came out of the collaboration with the Center for Hybrid Intelligence and I look forward to seeing crea.visions grow.

Emma Emilie Heibøll Development Consultant at the Climate Secretariat in Aarhus Municipality

Examples

Participatory democracy in Paris

Identifying problems and brainstorming solutions.

Venice

A Venecian poet’s thoughts on crea.visions experience:

Watering our curiosity...

Just as we water plants

Citizens’ submissions about the 6 wicked problems in Aarhus

Christmas in Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality

Partner question: How do we convince other shop owners to invest in Christmas decor?

Answer: Show them what they are missing out on.

Learn more

Explanation of our earliest version of crea.visions (formerly crea.blender).

Project lead, Janet Rafner, was invited to AI for Good’s podcast to talk about crea.visions (formerly crea.blender).

Project lead, Janet Rafner, presents our CHI Play Conference 2020 paper on crea.blender: A Neutral Network-Based Image Generation Game to Assess Creativity.