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El Trébol: cultural community space. Self-construction. Bogotá, 2015. Credits: Arquitectura Expandida Arquitectura Expandida Should designers be outlaws? Founded in 2010, Arquitectura Expandida (AXP) is a design collective based in Bogota, Colombia focused on building structures for and with communities that cannot afford to go through official channels for design and construction. Should designers be outlaws? Fresh Life Operator Esther Munyiva has run her Fresh Life Toilets in Mukuru kwa Reuben slum since 2012. She is one of over 400 Fresh Life Operators running Fresh Life Toilets throughout Nairobi’s informal settlements. Image Credit: Will Swanson Sanergy Collaborative Can waste management create jobs and improve hygiene? Launched in Nairobi’s slums, Sanergy is a business and sanitation initiative. Low-cost pay toilets are run by locals as a business. Waste is processed into fertilizer and sold to commercial farms. Can waste management create jobs and improve hygiene? YA + K YA + K Can design free the public from hierarchical constraints in society? YA+K brings young architects, urban planners, and designers together around projects that question and simultaneously invest in urban planning, architecture, design, and cultural action. The collective aims to create playful and evolving situations that stem from the imaginary to reality. Can design free the public from hierarchical constraints in society? Asiye eTafuleni © All rights reserved by asiyetafuleni127 Asiye eTafuleni Can design reclaim public space? Asiye eTafuleni (AeT) is a South African non-profit focused on promoting inclusive urban planning and design to support the livelihoods of informal workers operating in public spaces not officially allotted to them. Can design reclaim public space? Maya Pedal Can bicycles power essential tasks and support microbusinesses? In rural Guatemala, energy sources are scarce. Maya Pedal repurposes donated bicycles into pedal-powered machines that can blend food, grind corn and lift water from wells, without requiring electricity. Can bicycles power essential tasks and support microbusinesses?
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Social Design Insights podcast. Conversations with the leading voices of the social design movement.

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Short, inspiring films about social design pioneers around the globe.

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Supporting inspiring work around the world

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CSF’s Mission is to empower the practice of community-driven social design

The Curry Stone Design Foundation supports groups and individuals using design to build healthier, more vital communities. Over time, this support has taken the form of an annual prize, a podcast, grants, and an honorary circle.

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Social Design Insights is a weekly podcast of conversations with leading designers who discuss innovative projects and practices that use design to address pressing social justice issues.

Hosted by Eric Cesal, Produced by Baruch Zeichner.

Listen to the latest episode of Social Design Insights here.

IN MEMORIAM

Jockin Arputham dedicated his life to working with slum dwellers to build representative organizations into powerful partnerships with governments and international agencies for the betterment of urban living.

Mr. Jockin Arputham

We are saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend, colleague and incredible humanitarian Mr. Jockin Arputham.

Jockin dedicated his life to working with slum dwellers to build representative organizations into powerful partnerships with governments and international agencies for the betterment of urban living. Arputham was the president of the National Slum Dwellers Federation which he founded in the 70s and of Slum Dwellers International which is now a network of slum and shack dweller organizations and federations from over twenty countries across the world.

The National Slum Dwellers Federation works closely with Mahila Milan, a collective of savings groups formed by homeless women and women living in slums across India, and with SPARC, a Mumbai-based NGO that was awarded the Curry Stone Design Prize for their instrumental work in supporting tens of thousands of the urban poor access housing and sanitation throughout India.