MAKER: Laerdal Global Health, a non-profit company CHALLENGE: Stillbirths and early neonatal death due to birth asphyxia is estimated to account for two million perinatal deaths every year. In low- and middle-income countries where 98-99% of these deaths occur, there is often neither sufficient staff nor equipment to monitor fetal heart rate according to guidelines. SOLUTION: Moyo […]
MAKER: Hippo Roller, a social enterprise CHALLENGE: Water scarcity and impoverishment in Africa. According to Hippo Roller, “In Africa, 40% of the poorest households do not have piped-in water, and more than half of its population lack access to improved water sources such as boreholes, wells, or taps.” This challenge necessitates that women and children must […]
If you want to create successful solutions and real impact through your designs, keep the people you intend to serve at the heart of your process, every step of the way. This is what Human-centered design tells us. As defined by IDEO.org, an international design and consulting firm working to improve people’s lives through design, Human-centered design is a three-phase process […]
What if the sustainable solutions we’ve been seeking have existed in front of us all this time? According to biomimicry, that’s exactly the case. All around us in our environment and its systems, in the plants and animals and insects, we see evidence of perfectly executed, and perfectly sustainable, design, architecture, planning, and engineering. The Biomimicry Institute is […]
The synthetic dyes widely used in the fashion industry are hazardous for the environment, consumers, and the people who work with them. According to the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, making the switch to natural dyes is a unique opportunity. “Natural dyes open up possibilities for a more diverse and locally derived colour palette for design practice and […]
What single design practice can help close the gap on the the harmful “take, make, and dispose” economic model? Designing products for remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling. This is one of the key principles behind the circular economy model. “A circular economy is restorative and regenerative by design, and aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and […]