The Berggruen Institute, an independent, non-partisan think tank, unveiled a new program called Sense LA – a tool for social cohesion and public participation – and launched a new project with the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles to develop formal recommendations for the city of Los Angeles master plan.

Developed by Berggruen Fellow Gabriel Kahan, Sense LA is designed to harness the power of art and urban collective intelligence to help people from all backgrounds have a voice in their community, understand their city, guide multipronged decision making and cultivate shared perspectives.

The Sense LA assemblies help individuals within the community to identify and address areas of mutual interest in a discussion about the future of their neighborhoods. Participants wear blindfolds throughout the discussion, and the assembly ends with the group coming together to create a kinetic sculpture as a result of their conversation. Sense LA will live in digital and physical formats, creating multiple entry-points with the information generated by the groups.

“We are excited to launch Sense LA and share Gabriel’s innovative model for participatory representative democracy,” said Dawn Nakagawa, Berggruen Institute executive vice president. “Sense LA is the embodiment of everything we strive for at the Berggruen Institute – to break the gridlock of traditional power structures with innovative approaches and encourages public participation without populism. We believe this program will have real impact in the future of the city of L.A. We are grateful to the team at KAFLA for bringing together an unprecedented coalition of communities throughout Central Los Angeles.”

The launch event brought together community members and civic and grassroots organization leaders from the Wilshire corridor and surrounding areas to experience the Sense LA methodology and think critically about what democracy can look like at the local level. Attendees listened to Berggruen Institute and KAFLA leaders about the process and participated in a mock assembly.

KAFLA will use its network to participate in creative assemblies throughout Los Angeles. Current partner organizations include Little Bangladesh Improvements, Banglar Bijoy Bohor, Bangladeshi American Society, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council, Westlake North and South Neighborhood councils, Magnolia Community Initiative and Central City Neighborhood Partners.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Berggruen Institute on Sense LA,” said Laura Jeon, KAFLA president. “Now more than ever, it is important for our communities to come together to think about the future of our neighborhoods and provide input to the city of Los Angeles for our community plan. Sense LA provides the Wilshire corridor and surrounding areas with a platform to bring together the diverse communities to have honest and open conversations on our shared perspectives and what needs to be done to build a better future for our community.”