Friday 21 October 2011

The world needs design for development # 2

UN Headquarters, New York, October 15th : the world has its eyes on design for development!

The exhibition "Design with the other 90%: Cities"
For the first time in history, the majority of the earth’s approximately seven billion inhabitants live in cities. Close to one billion people live in informal settlements, commonly known as slums or squatter settlements, and that number is projected to swell to two billion by 2030, pushing beyond the capacity of many local institutions to cope.


Lured to the city in search of work and greater social mobility or fleeing conflicts and natural disasters, many urban migrants suffer from insecure land tenure, limited access to basic services such as sanitation and clean water, and crowded living conditions. At the same time, these informal cities, full of culture and life, increase opportunities to create solutions to the problems they face.

Design with the Other 90%: CITIES features sixty projects, proposals, and solutions that address the complex issues arising from the unprecedented rise of informal settlements in emerging and developing economies. Divided into six themes—Exchange, Reveal, Adapt, Include, Prosper and Access—to help orient the visitor, the exhibition shines the spotlight on communities, designers, architects, and private, civic, and public organizations that are working together to formulate innovative approaches to urban planning, affordable housing, entrepreneurship, nonformal education, public health, and more. The United Nations offers an ideal setting to examine these complex issues and connect with stakeholders who can impart real change. (Text copied from the official exhibition website)

Projects from Uganda

4 projects from Uganda are represented and 2 of them are Design without Borders' projects:
Design without Borders: bePRO motor taxi helmet (link)


Unicef Uganda and Design without Borders: Digital drum - information access for all (link)






The exhibition is on thru 9th of January, 2012. For those of you near New York, make sure you visit it!

This is too important to be missed. If you are not able to see the exhibition in New York, spend some minutes on the website to update yourself on this important issue:


All photos: Design with the other 90% Cities.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

The world needs design - the world needs design for development

Working with design for developement, i get inspired to see others doing the same. Right now, the World Challenge is going on, and there are many good examples of design being used to solve "the real needs" of the people, and our mother earth. One of the finalists is from Uganda, and I hope you will all go to the website and vote for them!


Ugastoves - finalist in the World Challenge 2011-2012





Nine out of every ten (90%) Ugandans rely on charcoal or firewood for energy - putting heavy pressure on the country's remaining forest cover. Designed by a Ugandan entrepreneur, UgaStoves have a layer of clay insulation that greatly improves fuel efficiency. By mass-producing the stoves for domestic and commercial use, the company is reducing both deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, with a claimed annual saving of one ton of carbon emissions for every stove. Less need for charcoal also means more money for poor households to spend on other necessities. Ugastoves is already getting international carbon credit finance to sell its stoves to subsidies sales.


Please vote here:
Ugastoves in the World Challenge


Plastic bag waste being transformed into wonderful new products






Another good example of design for development - and also taking care of environmental challenges. 


Although the UN estimates that over a quarter of the population in Cambodia still live under the international poverty line of US $1.25 a day, with an average economic growth rate of 6.5 percent over the last ten years the country has seen millions of people lifted out of poverty. One side effect of this turbo-charged growth has been a huge increase in the amount of rubbish produced by industry and households. The infrastructure to deal with it has not developed at the same pace. A husband and wife team running an ecotourism venture saw at first hand how plastic bags were choking the countryside. No plastic bag recycling facility existed in Cambodia so they started their own. Now, 'Funky Junk' makes fashion accessories and home goods out of woven plastic bags, in the process earning a decent income for poor rural communities.


Read more here:
IN THE BAG


Think about this when you are buying your next bag: where does it come from? where does it go after you don't need it anymore? Is Louis Vuitton really the right option?