OUR MISSION IS TO INSPIRE AND EMPOWER COMMUNITY-DRIVEN SOCIAL IMPACT DESIGN

Sergio Palleroni and Jane Anderson offer a history of the collective effort to establish a global network of social design teachers and practitioners Design for the Common Good Can design education promote social justice? Sergio Palleroni and Jane Anderson offer a history of the collective effort to establish a global network of social design teachers and practitioners. Can design education promote social justice? University students sketching buildings for a Riwaq competition. Organized by Riwaq, the Tom Kay Award supports Palestinian engineering students with the aim of encouraging them to spend less time in front of computer screens, and to carry their sketchbooks and pencils to explore, appreciate, draw, and document Palestinian architectural heritage. Image Credit: Riwaq Photo Archive RIWAQ Can restoration work in Palestine reinforce cultural identity? RIWAQ Centre for Architectural Conservation documents Palestinian heritage through restoration of the built environment. For Riwaq, conservation and historic restoration are tools for advancement; creating spaces where contemporary communities thrive. Can restoration work in Palestine reinforce cultural identity? Himanshu Parikh Himanshu Parikh What happens when gravity replaces modern technology as a tool to design urban infrastructure? Himanshu Parikh is an Indian engineer who developed of the concept of ‘slum networking,’ which stems from how the traditional organization of cities was based on natural features such as topography and gravity. What happens when gravity replaces modern technology as a tool to design urban infrastructure? Children playing at the Bomnong L'or Community Centre in Cambodia. The Centre sits on a dense urban site and is contructed out of fabric-formed post and beam concrete, engaging local female tailors, and is raised up similar to traditional wooden Khmer houses to create a large playground underneath. Image Credit: Lindsay Perth Orkidstudio How do we design with scarcity? James Mitchell and Tatu Gatere are designers and social entrepreneurs at Orkidstudio, a multi-disciplinary firm at the intersection of design, business and social good. Tatu and James discuss their innovative approach to designing the process of social impact design. How do we design with scarcity? FrontlineSMS FrontlineSMS Can SMS technology be harnessed as a powerful information dissemination tool? Frontline SMS is software that acts as an information dissemination service for text messages. It uses cell service not internet access to create communication networks and exchange information. Can SMS technology be harnessed as a powerful information dissemination tool?

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The Curry Stone Design Collaborative is a design studio that equips underserved and marginalized communities with methods to design, develop and improve their own built environments.

Launched in India in 2016, CSDC is a true collective of social design practices, architects and civic planners that work collaboratively with communities in need.

Learn more about CSDC and our process of community driven social design here.

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.

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