A Strategic Approach to Collaborative Design For Social Change

2019

Informal areas take up 65% of Cairo. Mansheyet Nasser -one of the biggest informal areas in Cairo-alone hosts more than 2,000,000 inhabitants. Several NGO founders feel responsible to create a model that fixes informal areas' problems (such as education, employment and health). Especially since the 25 th of January revolution, they have been doing their role in sustainable development. Currently these NGOs are responsible for providing opportunities that generate income for informal area female inhabitants. This study focuses on sustaining this income through community centric design. Moreover, the designer's role was more of moderating between the informal area, the inhabitants and the NGO rather than designing only. Aiming the women could have sustainable income, the participants' needs and communities were investigated using Kimbell and Julier's (2012) Storyworld method. This resulted in three women sewing clothes that are sold using a well branded online store. A sample from the store's target group were invited to participate in several participatory design workshops to create the chosen products. This action research draws attention to the impact of community centric design on socio-economic status in informal areas.

Pages on Art and Design, 2018

After the January 25th Egyptian revolution, 250.000 Non-Governmental Organizations were active in Cairo alone, with the aim of solving numerous poverty-related problems. In this paper, the unemployment of inhabitants of informal areas is under the spotlight. The aim is to help NGOs establish more sustainable projects serving informal area inhabitants through the intervention of designers. Research aimed to grasp an understanding of the NGOs' problems, micro-projects they undertake and problems facing their target group-the informal area inhabitants-in relation to their projects, in order to investigate how design can intervene. The research results in the analysis of sustainable development in the informal areas of Cairo. As revealed in the NGOs' members unstructured interviewing, poverty in Cairo has four cyclical reasons: lack of education, unemployment, overpopulation and health problems. The analysis concludes that micro-projects face problems and it is hypothesized that they can be solved through a design intervention. Producing outdated products that have no specific target group can be reversed through market research and participatory design. Also, marketing and pricing were better formulated through collaborative strategic design with the NGO team. These results draw attention to the significance of interfering in the local issues to support NGOs sustainable programs.

Proceedings of DRS Learn X Design 2019: Insider Knowledge, 2019

Informal areas take up 65% of Cairo. Mansheyet Nasser -one of the biggest informal areas in Cairo- alone hosts more than 2,000,000 inhabitants. Several NGO founders feel responsible to create a model that fixes informal areas’ problems (such as education, employment and health). Especially since the 25th of January revolution, they have been doing their role in sustainable development. Currently these NGOs are responsible for providing opportunities that generate income for informal area female inhabitants. This study focuses on sustaining this income through community centric design. Moreover, the designer’s role was more of moderating between the informal area, the inhabitants and the NGO rather than designing only. Aiming the women could have sustainable income, the participants’ needs and communities were investigated using Kimbell and Julier’s (2012) Storyworld method. This resulted in three women sewing clothes that are sold using a well branded online store. A sample from the store’s target group were invited to participate in several participatory design workshops to create the chosen products. This action research draws attention to the impact of community centric design on socio-economic status in informal areas.

Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Diseño y Comunicación

Neste artigo, compartilhamos algumas reflexões sobre os possíveis papéis do designer em iniciativas baseadas na comunidade. Realizamos um estudo de caso em Salvador, Bahia, que se apresenta como uma plataforma de transformação social por meio da economia criativa. Foram analisados os impactos sociais, culturais, ambientais e econômicos das ações de design deste projeto, que visa apoiar artistas e artesãos e outros profissionais em situação de vulnerabilidade socioeconômica. O estudo de caso tem como foco principal o impacto de um projeto de inovação social na Coopertêxtil, Cooperativa Mista de Produção e Trabalho de Artigos Têxteis que envolve 16 mulheres e beneficia 40 famílias. Apontamos algumas oportunidades de intervenção projetual, visando: a) trazer novas perspectivas para a produção artesanal local (visão sistêmica e planejamento); b) desenvolver artefatos a partir de recursos locais e agregar valor à cultura material e imaterial embutida nos processos produtivos; c) promove...

Swiss Design Network Symposium 2021 Conference Proceedings , 2021

In this paper, the field of contemporary design is explored and its development moving towards more recent discourses such as transition design, relation to craft and where designers fit in this image while considering external forces and how they influence the playing field. This brings to our attention the current movement of social design, how it came to be, why is it needed and what are the local examples showcasing it. Moreover, the business side is discussed and its relation to social innovation and entrepreneurship. This paved the way in the past few years, to the rise of a number of start-ups or enterprises and initiatives examples in Egypt that tackle the social aspect one way or another, particularly crafts and craftsmanship combined with the founders' expertise in design. The examples discussed are the Nilfurat project, Up-fuse, Kiliim, the doodle factory and reform studio. The initiatives in question are part of a movement still in its infancy phase, depending mainly on expensive products to a limited target group. Having said that, those initiatives seem to be a good starting point in the direction of social and economic reform that is gaining momentum..

Advanced Science Letters, 2017

This article presents challenges and opportunities of employing participatory design approach with underprivileged citizens of developing countries. Through our on-going community project that develops recycled craft products in the interest of obtaining extra income for the mothers of Penjaringan, Jakarta, obstacles and prospects of employing participatory design method has been identified. The method which is known to bring the whole stakeholders into the design process is now preferred when the end product is intended to respond the real needs of its users. However, for such methods to be successful, designers in charge to work with underprivileged citizens must understand that they will be working under very different conditions than when doing participatory design in an established society. There are economical (quantitative) as well as cultural (qualitative) discrepancies among plural settlers of Jakarta, where the underprivileged suffers the least access to good quality infrastructure, which in turn affecting their self-actualization, aesthetic sensibilities and workmanships. Our field study revealed that participatory design methods may be advantageous only if the designers firstly take the lead and empower those who have been hindered economically and culturally, before we can expect them to participate in the design process optimally. As long as the empowerment process is carried out, we realized that participatory design with underprivileged citizens of developing countries has a prospect to bring out outcomes of at least two types: First, products that suits participant’s existing socio-economical condition, and second, the empowered design process itself improves citizens’ workmanships valuable for their own future productivities.

Design Culture(s). Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021. Volume #2, 2021

A considerable amount of social impact projects promise the revitalization of the crafts sector and empowering of the artisans. While a part of ongoing projects around the world might be considered successful, the rest loses the essence of working with the craftspeople and is rather another design project for consumerism. Therefore, this research examines various cases from around the world that tackle the issues surrounding poverty by working with craft communities. This online survey of social development projects, semi-structured interviews with artisans and one of the author's own observations in craft workshops in Turkey reveal the opportunities, problems, and areas of consideration for design practice. These findings are expected to pave the path for designers in creating a more conscious effort in working with socially, economically and culturally diverse communities and enhance the relationship between the craftspeople and designers.

2009

This paper examines design in the context of sustainable development, asking the question, what can design contribute to sustainable development? Given the continued need for development that improves quality of life and reduces poverty in both developed economies and those now developing rapidly such as India and China, the need is urgent for this to be sustainable in all aspects, economic, environmental and social.

IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2017

Since its inception in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, the Jua Kali (informal sector) has been popular to the consumers because of its affordable articles and proximity to residential areas. This paper looks at the amalgamation of design and production to offer solutions to problems artisans face in trying to meet consumer satisfaction. Materials, comfort, cost of articles, labour issues and skills, proprietors and apprentices terms of employment and how they can be interpreted to synthesis a brief to the satisfaction of the client were considered. It applied a case study model while applying a survey method for data collection. The sample size was 300 workshops in Gikomba market, Nairobi City of which 188 workshops were engaged in wood production while the rest of 112 workshops were engaged in metal production. The study found out that this informal sector grapples with the problem of quality, funding and the ability to purchase materials and adequate labour. The study established the sector has minimal or no specialisation in labour. However, it identifies one advantage that their products are affordable to most low income earners due to economies of scale in their production and proximity. It thus recommends that the informal sector considers acquiring requisite design skills, standardisation, quality control, ergonomics and aesthetics in production.

JDE (Journal of Developing Economies), 2017

The ever-increasing share of fast fashion consumerism shadowed the profound craftsmanship of local produce in the developing countries. This subsequently created hardship to the local communities and designers across the non-western world which belongs to small and medium scale enterprise sector. Beyond this the fashion commodities saw a substantial fall in design elements which made the products very banal in nature. Consequently, the trade turned towards conscious consumption and here emerged a few sustainable designers and craft-oriented communities which attracted attention in the recent past. Problems of sustainability and consumption are burning issues nowadays, fashion houses and international brands propagandize purchase for better consumer base, whereas originally sustainable local-based craftsmen still stay in the shade. Due to lack of expert management and target allocated branding real sources of national heritage cannot gain fame on the international level. In this research, we have studied and analyzed the problems faced by hereditary communities and ethnic designers which lie in small and medium scale enterprise sector from two developing economies Ethiopia and Ukraine. The main purpose of the work is to design an effective marketing & management strategy for expansion of local communities and entrepreneurs to the international level. Particular attention is given to communities and designers who promote national heritage and for a part of small and medium scale enterprises which are one of the concerns of economic development of the two countries.