https://www.positive.news/society/transforming-the-world-by-design/
"“Look at landfill sites,” says Pepijn Zurburg, co-founder of Dutch nonprofit
What Design Can Do. “At one point, someone designed all that trash that’s in
them. Everything that we made eventually ends up being a problem for us.
Whether it’s food, clothing or other products: if we have been involved in
creating this problem, then we should also, as designers, feel responsible for
being part of the solution.”
What Design Can Do, an international organisation based in Amsterdam, with hubs
in Delhi, Nairobi, Tokyo, São Paolo and Mexico City, began life 12 years ago,
when co-founders Zurburg and Richard van der Laken decided to explore design’s
impact on society.
The pair – graphic designers who ran an agency together – began with a one-day
conference, inviting experts to speak on how purpose drives design and
aesthetics. “We liked to work with clients, of course,” says van der Laken.
“But when you do your own initiative, you’re also the owner of the contents. As
a graphic designer, you could say that you design the cover, but you never
write the book.” What Design Can Do is the designers writing the book – and
they’re far from finished.
In 2015 came the first of many challenges. Working with the Ikea Foundation and
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the pair invited designers
worldwide to submit design-led ideas that could ease the refugee crisis. More
than 911,000 refugees arrived in Europe that year, with 3,550 losing their
lives on the journey. The five winning submissions, which included a
biodegradable shelter, a storytelling platform and a radio-frequency ID card,
were each awarded €10,000 (£8,580) to make their ideas a reality. Since then,
six more challenges have invited ideas to tackle challenges ranging from child
sexual exploitation to waste."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
