Things to consider
As the old saying goes, ask a silly question and you will get a silly answer! Successful social design, social innovation and social enterprise are as much about identifying appropriate questions and issues to be addressed by intervention as it is about creating the responses to those questions. Before you can design (or co-design) a solution you need to fully understand the problems that are faced.
You are asked to work with local stakeholders to identify what issues need to be addressed to improve their quality of life and well being. The aim is to identify which of the national themes discussed on this site are of greatest relevance to your local community and the people you chose to work within it. In short, you need to co-design your local brief before you design your response.
The Audi Design Foundation ran a workshop with designers, researchers and advocates for design to identify some national and international hot topics and key questions that design might address. How do the questions below relate to your local scenario? Do you and your stakeholders have the skills to address these questions? Are they important to you? If not what questions are more relevant to your local community and their situation and how will you use them to create your own design brief?
Hot Topic I: Bullying
Brief/question
- In addition to the negative impact on the individual of bullying, increased ownership of ‘hot products’ like mobile phones means bullying at school now also involves theft
- This has helped to accelerate crime figures and fear of crime
- How could environments and products be designed differently to reduce bullying and theft?
Situational context
- MP3 players, mobile phones, PDA’s and bikes are all amongst the ‘hot products’ that are most likely to be stolen from an individual
- 60% of mobile phone thefts involve people under the age of 18
Things to consider
- Are people more likely to experience bullying because they own more desirable products?
- How can design contribute to reducing the incidence of bullying or ‘hot product’ theft by using design to make a difference?
Hot Topic II: Fear of Violence
Brief / question
- There is an apparent rise in youth violence as illustrated in reported increases in knife crime. How do you break the vicious cycle of fear and violence?
- How can the design of public housing and public space promote community safety, while fostering social cohesion and community responsibility?
- How can design of public spaces promote and sustain community development?
Situational context
- Breaking the ‘crime cycle’ or ‘pathway’ to crime is recognised as a cost effective way of cutting crime – prevention rather than cure. One route to this is through education.
- Understanding through education how ‘hot product’ theft accelerates risks of youth violence
- The night time economy is negatively impacted upon by crime fuelled by alcohol, ranging from littering and street urination to violent attacks
Things to consider
- How might design encourage effective engagement with appropriate youth groups?
- How do we use education to understand how theft accelerates the risks of youth violence?
- How can you engage young people in this process?
- How can spaces be designed for defensibility against crime while also permitting positive social permeability?
- How can design promote the night time economy?
Hot Topic III: Suffering in Silence
Brief / question
- Some crimes, such as domestic violence, take place beyond the reach of the law and often go unreported
- How can design make a contribution to knowledge about this subject?
- How can it help improve access to advice and assistance to vulnerable groups?
- How can designers help prevent these crimes and enforce the law?
Situational context
- Significant proportions of crime go unreported – which are they and how can design thinking help?
Things to consider
- Can you identify the skills gaps in communities and how can they be improved to help avoid crime?
- How could interaction between the police and victims improve to increase crime reporting and safety?
- How could crime reporting and prevention be improved for people with English as a second language