Social Innovation and CoCreation through Design: utilising natural resources to facilitate sustainable development

The study and practice of design is deeply rooted in culture and tradition, establishing resilience through its proven methods and producing robustness in the continual development of knowledge and skills. This research explores the value of co-creative design methods within rural communities as a means to motivate and empower while contributing to new ways of thinking, doing, and understanding sustainability in design practice. Through observational studies, qualitative insights and participatory design methods, this research examines the challenges faced by the rural women of ‘Gudiya Village’ in Indore, India, where design skills are tested to promote sustainable development through use of natural building materials, resources and techniques. The main focus of the research expands on the role of co-creative practice in disrupting the hegemonic position of design, leading towards and promoting the fluidity in knowledge transfer and exchange. This paper provides a discussion of how design practice and knowledge are influenced by cultural traditions while, in turn, informing new perspectives for cultural production through the symbiotic relationship between designers and communities of practice. The role of design, to educate and empower, is presented as a framework for future designers, researchers and co-creators to embed cultural and sustainable practices as part of shifting resilience into robustness.