Today it is commonly known that the most effective place branding initiatives are those involving a wide range of place stakeholders. However, few empirical studies show how this can be carried out in practice and little is known about how residents experience participating in place branding initiatives. Design Thinking uses divergent and convergent thinking, creativity, visualization and prototyping to develop ideas and solutions. Inspired by participatory action research, the current study develops and evaluates a framework inspired by Design Thinking for how stakeholders can be involved in a place branding process and value the outcome of such an approach. Observations are complemented by qualitative questionnaires capturing the stakeholders’ perceptions and interviews with public officials. The study shows that Design Thinking facilitates an inclusive place branding process, as the framework developed, titled “The Inclusive Place Diamond”, encourages inclusion and strengthens the sense of meaning making at the same time as it reinforces a broad sense of ownership. Still, conflicting images complicate the process and some resistance towards losing power is observed. One of the key insights is that a process inspired by Design Thinking entails that the implementation of the place brand starts already when stakeholders are invited to the process and continues as a key feature of the evolving process.

如今，众所周知，最有效的场所品牌计划是那些涉及众多场所利益相关者的计划。但是，很少有经验研究表明如何在实践中进行，而居民对参与场所品牌计划的体验知之甚少。设计思维使用不同和融合的思维，创造力，可视化和原型设计来开发思想和解决方案。受参与式行动研究的启发，本研究开发并评估了“设计思维”启发下的框架，该框架旨在使利益相关者如何参与场所品牌塑造过程并重视这种方法的结果。定性问卷补充了观察意见，这些问卷记录了利益相关者的看法以及对公职人员的采访。包容并增强了意义的产生，同时增强了广泛的主人翁感。尽管如此，冲突的图像使该过程复杂化，并且观察到了一些抵制功耗的阻力。关键见解之一是，受“设计思维”启发的过程意味着，当邀请利益相关者加入该流程时，地方品牌的实施已经开始，并一直在不断发展。