Cumulus Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA on September 29-October 2, 2011
Program: http://cumulus2011denver.org/#program
Abstract
This paper concentrates on the roles of designers as agents of sustainable change in communities. This paper was drawn from my research, which I completed with a community of people with physical disabilities in a semi-urban area of Thailand. The main goal was to generate sustainable change in the community and enable them to attain sustainable livelihoods in their community. This research put people at the center of development. It was designed to support the participants and their community to continue improving their capabilities, so that they could reach their full potential to attain sustainable livelihoods long after the completion of research implementation. Sustainable change occurs when the community creates and implements their own ideas rather than accepting and implementing ideas, which have been created for them. To attain sustainable change, designers need to change their own mindsets and attitudes, with those of the participants. The designers are no longer providers of a solution for the participants but become agents of sustainable change with multiple roles as facilitators, enablers, innovators, and disseminators. They also need to provide the people or community, which participate in the research process, an opportunity to investigate their own situation and create a project, which would be implemented in their community.
Keywords: designers, sustainable change, sustainable livelihoods, Thailand
