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folks, i just received a link to several lectures last week by george soros: www.ft.com/soroslectures. in the lectures on reflexivity he details what it means to cope with truly overwhelming complexity. reserve an hour for listening. don't be put off by his focus on economic issues, which should interest everyone anyhow. national decision makers do have a design problem to find economic measures that could stabilize a global economy. klaus -----Original Message----- From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Terence Love Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 6:31 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: PhD in Design for Social Wellbeing Dear Eden, It's probably important to be aware of the huge amount of disastrous design activity in the development arena. Most of this has been undertaken by well-meaning designers not realizing their primary focus was to make money, increase their status or make themselves feel good at the expense of others - always difficult issues when coming from a privileged society and working with the less privileged. There is a substantial literature 60s to 90s. A starting reference point for thinking some concepts is Illich (especially Tools for Conviviality, Deschooling Society, Medical Nemesis, Energy and Equity). "Greening of Africa" by Harrison also is useful as are Friere's analyses. Best wishes and good luck, Terry -----Original Message----- From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design on behalf of Edan Weis Sent: Thu 05/11/2009 07:25 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: PhD in Design for Social Wellbeing Hello, I am a PhD student from the University of Melbourne, currently researching design practice which aims to contribute to poverty alleviation and economic development in poor nations, or "Design for Social Wellbeing". (sometimes called design for social impact, design for development, design activism, etc..) I am focusing on the normative aspects of "design thinking"; such as an individual's underlying ideological, institutional or theoretical dispositions which influence product or service development within DSW organizations. I have begun looking for organizations who may be interested in participating in my case study. If anybody is aware of organizations working in any of these three capacities (particularly in Sth/Central America), or could advise or refer me to them, I would be extremely grateful... 1) Commercial product/service development for low-income markets through social enterprise 2) Technical assistance and capacity building with local artisans or micro-enterprises 3) Product, service and infrastructure development assistance for communities and organizations. Also, I have found the literature and theoretical background of DSW to be fragmented and underdeveloped. In an attempt to contribute and open it further, I have uploaded my research proposal online, for anyone interested: http://www.xime.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Work_in_Progress I welcome any comments or advice... Thanks everybody!! Regards, Edan Weis PhD Student, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. The University of Melbourne To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://disclaimer.leedsmet.ac.uk/email.htm