AASHE Campus Sustainability Hub

Design for “Vulnerables – Technology Challenge” is a project idealized and created in Tecnológico de Monterrey, Chihuahua Campus, it aims to understand how design processes can facilitate the introduction of accessible technological resources in the vulnerable communities, to reduce vulnerabilities and digital divide. The projects is implemented in four vulnerable communities (urban, peri urban, rural and forestry) in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

With this goal, the communities (supported by the research team and civil organizations) proposed technological solutions, which have been studied under the aspects of their social adoption, their impact on space and environment and their effectiveness. The implementation of these projects brought to the creation of six “hubs” that aim to be opportunities for a collaborative reflection over specific and contextualized topics:

1. mobility and accessibility
2. Education through tech supplies
3. Agriculture and water consumption
4. Water quality and health
5. Environmental education
6. Sustainable tourism.

The final purpose is to demonstrate how design and technological adoption can promote capacity building processes that can solve severe socioecological conditions. The research results (affordable and effective processes) are benefiting directly and indirectly several actors:

(1) Citizens and civil organizations living in these most vulnerable areas, (2) Governments and municipalities (3) Professionals (architects, engineers, urban designers, entrepreneurs, etc.) (4) Technological companies (5) Academia (generating knowledge and trained researchers).

Design for Vulnerables (Dv) starts from the idea that the role of architects must rapidly change to be in line with the fast changes in our world. Dv embodies an exemplary process that not only addresses the immediate needs of vulnerable communities but also inspires a paradigm shift in the profession.

Moreover, Dv propose innovative processes of community participation, to shift the interventions from a “dependency culture” of welfarism to the effective processes of community empowerment, where designers and architects contribute to generate awareness through participatory projects and physical interventions in the built environment. These goals are possible by a series of minor exemplary processes:

• The project's commitment to understand the evolving needs of vulnerable communities is evident in its comprehensive framework, which encompasses six dimensions of vulnerability, including sustainable mobility, climate change, gender approach, resource optimization, local businesses, and urban health.

• The project team actively involves stakeholders from diverse backgrounds. By fostering collaboration and dialogue among these stakeholders, the project ensures that interventions are culturally sensitive and contextually relevant.

• The project's focus on participatory methods enables communities to take ownership of the design process. By soliciting input from residents and incorporating their perspectives into decision-making, the project empowers communities to become active agents of change.

• The project challenges traditional notions of design practice by integrating ecological considerations into every phase of the project. By prioritizing environmental sustainability and leveraging technological resources, the project demonstrates how design interventions can mitigate environmental risks and promote long-term resilience.

Overall, the project reimagines the role of designers as catalysts for social change. By fostering community awareness, collaboration, and empowerment, the project inspires a new generation of practitioners to embrace a holistic, people-centered approach to design.

Vulnerability is a condition of potentiality, where a disturbing force can alter a defined status quo. The lower the political, economic, or technological power owned by a person or community, the higher the possibilities that the disturbing forces can worsen the status quo. While the strengthening of the political and economic powers belongs to already existing design methodologies, the strengthening of technologic capacities remains a challenge in most vulnerable contexts.

For this reason, it is urgent to define, with multidisciplinary dimensions, a way to strengthen the access and adoption of technological capabilities in the most vulnerable communities. Moreover, while technological illiteracy will increase the vulnerability gap, technological skills will potentially decrease the vulnerability gap and overcome socio-environmental limitations.

However, the costs of technological resources are often a barrier for their accessibility in the most vulnerable community and this unavailability can increase the risk of widening the gap between the most and the less vulnerable communities. In the decades to come, the power of the technologic apparatus will increase so much that being excluded from it will mean being in a condition of severe and hardly solvable vulnerability.

At the same time, the repercussions of the technological apparatus over humanity raise severe ethical concerns, which are particularly alarming in the most vulnerable communities. It’s urgent that academy, governments, companies and societies face the challenge to find affordable, appropriate, and ethical processes to share technological resources with the most vulnerable communities, to contribute to the transformation of cities and communities to make them more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous.

The disruptive solution to this important challenge is not a "simple" technology transfer process. The disruptive solution that this project is proposing will be a process that empowers communities, combining technology transfer with local solutions (even traditional or vernacular). Even if the first application of the project will be four communities in the state of Chihuahua, we imagine that the results of this first project will help to define processes applicable to other contexts, thereby bring affordable and accessible technologies to a greater number of communities

As strongly defined by the academic literature, vulnerabilities’ dimensions must be evaluated with a systemic methodology and multidisciplinary perspectives. For this necessary approach, the research team is composed of experts of six different vulnerability’s dimensions:

(1) Sustainable mobility (2) Climate change (3) Gender focus (4) Resources optimization (5) Economic businesses (6) Urban health.

These six dimensions emerged as the most critical when analyzing similar vulnerable communities in previous projects.

Design for Vulnerables – Technology Challenge tests and demonstrates disruptive solutions to achieve an easy and affordable process to provide access, diffusion, and appropriation of technologies in the most vulnerable communities and make these resources drivers for the eradication of vulnerabilities. These new processes will reduce vulnerabilities, while empowering communities and changing private and public spaces. Part of the objective is to define which processes can improve 6 specific focuses, which arose in previous research:

(1) Sustainable mobility (2) Resilience to climate change (3) Gender approach (4) Resources optimization (5) Economic activities (6) Urban health.

Throughout 2023, six tech-based interventions were developed to facilitate adoption of technological resources in vulnerable communities, aiming to reduce the digital divide, enhance resilience, and strengthen socio-ecological awareness. These four interventions (HUBs) were carried out in four communities of the semi-arid state of Chihuahua (Mexico)

1. Mobility HUB (Chihuahua city): an urban system of electric bikes managed by residents of a marginalized community to facilitate the accessibility to services and opportunities.

2. Tech HUB (Chihuahua city): a gazebo, solar panel, free Wi-Fi, and tech resources (3d viewers, tablets, projector, audio system) regenerate a public space, allowing a civil association to implement educational activities for children and women.

3. Agri HUB (Nuevas Delicias): two greenhouses (supported by solar panel and rainwater harvesting (RWH)) were installed in public and educational spaces, contributing to a network of “sustainable” production activities in a rural community, involving schools, associations, and productive sector.

4. Water HUB (Julimes): Five carbon-based filters were installed in public spaces (schools and main square) to give free access to good-quality water to the whole community. These filters remove the arsenic and fluor, that nowadays is present at 10-times the allowed levels, without using inverse osmosis processes.

5. Environmental HUB (Basaseachic): two technological systems have been installed in the middle school: (1) a system of green house, RWH and solar panel contribute to create a sustainable productive garden and (2) a biodigestor, together with 40 air contamination sensors, aims to avoid the use of firewood in the classrooms during winter.

6. Tourism HUB (Basaseachic): a service for tourists was designed to facilitate new activities in the Sierra Tarahumara, with a focus on night-activities.

These innovative participatory processes shift the paradigm from welfare-based to community empowerment interventions.

January 2021: The project has been under development since 2021 (with online workshops during the pandemic) and was exclusively focused on the urban area of Paso de Norte (Chihuahua), that later summed three other communities. It lasted two years with funding support from the Observatory of Cities.

November 2022: The project receives broader funding through the “Challenge-Based Research Funding Program” and expands its areas of intervention to three additional communities in the state of Chihuahua. The number of participating partners (both internal and external to the institution) increases.

January 2023: Participatory design processes begin with the four communities, based on:

1. Semi-structured interviews
2. Community walkabouts
3. Co-mapping
4. Co-definition of vulnerabilities
5. Co-definition of strategies
6. Co-definition of interventions August 2023: Project implementation begins.

January 2024: All project implementations are completed, and the design of activities to be carried out during the year, begins this month.

June 2024: The “FECTI2024” and “Pathways for Sustainability – Future Earth” grants are awarded, boosting the implementation of the activities.

December 2024: Funding from the “Challenge-Based Research Funding Program” ends, and the projects begin operating with local and autonomous financing.

The project was primarily funded by the Challenge-Based Research Funding Program, with around 220,000 USD. This main funding is complemented by smaller contributions, such as:

(a) State Fund for Science, Technology, and Innovation of Chihuahua 2024 (15,000 USD). (b) Communication Pathways of Future Earth 2024 (5,500 USD). (c) Observatory of Cities funding program 2021 + 2022 (5,000 + 5,000 USD).

In addition, local stakeholders contributed to financing some implementations (public space arrangements, filter adaptations, etc.).

The semiarid region of Chihuahua and the unsustainable production.

Design for Vulnerables is not only focused on addressing the immediate needs of vulnerable communities but also prioritizes ecological responsiveness. Recognizing the interconnectedness of social and environmental vulnerabilities, the project team has adopted a comprehensive approach to consider the ecological impact of their interventions.

In the semi-arid context of Chihuahua (Mexico) where communities are facing exacerbated vulnerabilities due to climate change, the team comprises experts in ecology, climate change, and environmental sustainability.

This multidisciplinary composition of the team ensures that ecological considerations are integrated into every phase of the project: from the initial diagnosis of vulnerabilities to the development of technological interventions, the team emphasizes the importance of understanding the ecological context of each community.

By involving primary stakeholders who have a direct interest or impact on decision-making processes, the team ensures that ecological considerations are incorporated into the shared strategy development.

In the arid region of Chihuahua, climate change and the unsustainable agricultural production are destroying the ecological system. For this reason, the interventions aimed to create awareness among the communities about the need of a different future and the possibilities to reach it: a circular collaboration between schools and associations aims to create hubs where new practices for sustainable agriculture and environmental justice are developed (composting, solar energy, green houses, domestic gardens, measurements for water and soil quality, etc.). By aligning technological interventions with ecological principles, the project aims to mitigate environmental risks and promote long-term sustainability.

Overall, Design for Vulnerables approaches ecological responsiveness by integrating expertise in ecology and environmental sustainability into every aspect of the project. By recognizing the complex interplay between social and environmental factors, the project seeks to create holistic solutions that address the needs of vulnerable communities while safeguarding the ecosystem for future generations.

The aesthetic of engagement.

With origins in previous research endeavors (“Design for Vulnerables – Paso del Norte” and “Vulnerable Socio Ecotones”), this project focuses on adapting architecture, urban planning, and services to meet the needs of vulnerable populations in the coming decades. Central to the project is the exploration of how design and spatial changes can integrate accessible technology to address socio-environmental challenges effectively.

To achieve aesthetic quality within this framework, the project employs a methodological approach consisting of six phases, including diagnosing vulnerabilities, technological review, community engagement, urban architecture, and startup development. By integrating community input and expert knowledge, the project seeks to create visually appealing solutions that are both functional and contextually appropriate. This participatory approach ensures that aesthetic considerations are informed by the unique needs and perspectives of the communities involved, where these aesthetic considerations involve cultural and ethical dimensions.

Despite limited budgets, the project prioritizes community-driven solutions and strives to create interventions that are coherent with the local context. By validating specific projects within each community and developing tailored technology-based strategies, the project ensures that aesthetic quality is not compromised by financial constraints.

In summary, Design for Vulnerables approaches aesthetic quality by integrating community engagement, expert knowledge, and contextual considerations into every phase of the project. By prioritizing functionality, sustainability, and cultural relevance, the project aims to create aesthetically pleasing solutions that contribute positively to the well-being of vulnerable communities.

• Vulnerabilities are contextual, and it is not possible to begin an implementation with a preconceived notion of the type of intervention to carry out. Thorough research must be conducted with communities and multidisciplinary experts.

• Multidisciplinarity is the most complex feature of these projects, particularly due to the difficulty in reaching consensus on definitions, methodologies, and approaches, which can vary across disciplines.

• A crucial first step is to study local stakeholders and balance the presence of public and private actors, ensuring that the schools and academics are part of the team (but not the sole public actor). Schools provide year-round presence in the community and often need to develop projects, but their involvement can make the work vulnerable due to vacation schedules and leadership changes.

• It is critical not to disappoint community members: while building a relationship of trust to develop a project is challenging, that trust can be easily lost due to unfulfilled promises or wasting community members’ time and sensitivity with meetings or studies that yield no results.

• The most important outcome is seeing the community take ownership of the interventions. This is the primary goal of these projects: research objectives must not come first (or the research will not materialize), and activities should not be overly guided to avoid risking a loss of community interest.

• Diana Peláez - Commissioning and sustainability certifications leader. | Tecnológico de Monterrey – Campus Monterrey
• Emanuele Giorgi - Research Director | Tecnológico de Monterrey – Campus Chihuahua
• Luis Ricardo Fernández Carril - Academic Manager of Sustainability | Tecnológico de Monterrey – Campus Monterrey
• Samantha Winter
• Simone Lucatello

• Link: Official website for the project