Paper details

Paper authors	Martha Thompson
In panel on	The World in Humanitarian Objects: Power, Change, Care and Control
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

Within the rapidly growing area of humanitarian innovation, a key gap persists around bringing the affected population into the innovation process as creative and active participants. At MIT D-Lab, we believe it is critically important to bring the affected populations’ skills, entrepreneurship, creativity and knowledge into the development of solutions; not only because of the insights that are gained in identifying challenges and creating solutions, but also because participation in the process provides a transformational experience which can have a deep and meaningful impact on the affected population. For the last decade, MIT D-Lab has been pioneering approaches for engaging people at the margins in the design and creation of solutions that improve their lives and livelihoods, creating local innovation ecosystems that promote and support community-led design. This paper explores how MIT D-Lab is adapting experience in the development sector to the humanitarian arena; piloting design training with unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece and ex-combatants in Colombia. We look at how involving affected population in the design and creation of solutions can produce appropriate products and processes based on their priorities and needs but also transforms the way that people think about themselves, improving their self-confidence and their capabilities as resilient problem solvers.

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