Spaces of participation: Exploring citizen participation in a health promotion initiative in the deprived neighborhood Tingbjerg in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Background/Objectives
Research on participation in community initiatives point at the challenges related to involving vulnerable groups. Studies show that normative perceptions of participation dominate the field of intervention sciences with formal, organized methods as the norm neglecting informal, non-verbal or more tacit modes of participation. This has implications for our ability to co-produce initiatives with locals on a community level.
Aim
This study draws on the concept of space to show how different modes of participation become doable within the setting of a community hub in the deprived neighborhood Tingbjerg.
Methods
The study is based on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork from January 2020 to August 2021 in a community hub in the neighborhood Tingbjerg. Methods include participant observation, 13 interviews with residents, 7 interviews with practitioners and video material.
Results
We identified four themes related to participation; Organizational space, Co-owned space, Social space and Physical space. Results show that these different spaces promote informal and unconventional participation motivating residents to take ownership.
Conclusion
By shedding light on spaces of participation the paper argues for the need to approach participation as more than a merely planned or facilitated process. To ensure participation from the socially most disadvantaged, we need to take into account the spaces we produce, who owns them and what kinds of participation become legitimate within these spaces.
Based on findings it is evident that the production of spaces that allow for a certain fluid and flexible participation depends on an ability to ensure power distribution.