Design, social innovation and peace: experiences from the Amazon-Orinoquía border in Colombia (2018-2019)

Resumo

As a contribution to the implementation of the Peace Agreements in Colombia, an accompaniment initiative has been developed from the discipline of industrial design for the promotion of productive and social projects, aimed at supporting the process of reinstatement of former combatants of the FARC EP guerrilla in the department of Guaviare. The objective is to support the construction of Peace from the design activity as a strategic element in social development through innovation dynamics and strengthening productive processes of grassroots economy, articulating the dynamics and interests of communities and government institutions in the local development. The methodology used was the Co-design process among teams of students, FARC EP ex-combatants and community members in order to formulate and develop productive projects and social development linked to the Territorial Training and Reincorporation Space Jaime Pardo Leal (“Espacio Territorial de Capacitación y Reincorporación Jaime Pardo Leal” in Spanish), in the village of Colinas, municipality of San José del Guaviare - Colombia. As a result the group have been working on five projects: agro ecology, production of capsicum jam, tourism, dairy and education and culture, all of them aimed at strengthening productive and social development initiatives. In this way this experience has allowed students to open up a dimension of how relevant the design in the social field can be, identifying problems and opportunities for contribution from design to local development. All pointing at overcoming the causes of armed conflict and contributing to a stable and lasting peace through a process of dialogue with the knowledge of former combatants and communities.