Social Design for Sustainability - with the kids of Sakumlandela

Young learners at Skumlandela Primary School in Khayelitsha are actively involved in the planning and preparation of the social design action that's to take place in Cape Town in March 2012.  This 10day exchange is hosted by the Eco Design Initiative and SVID, the Swedish Industrial Design Foundation, involving young South African and Swedish designers for sustainability.

Design teams participating in the Fresh Talent Challenge will be provided with a supply of environmentally friendly and "waste" materials to use in the construction and creation of their proposed design solutions to improve the lives of the Khayelitsha community. The key to this design "intervention" is the full participation of the kids, school and community. In shaping a sustainable future, it's appropriate and foresighted to enable children and youth to lead in designing and developing their communities.

Armed with a specially designed investigative toolkit the young learners at Sakumlandela Primary have been documenting information about their lives at home, school and in their communities. The tasks and creative story telling exercises, facilitated by the Earth Child Project, included a photography assignment, written diary entries, space mapping and a theatre kit.

The kids' documented details and perspectives will inform and influence the Fresh Talent Challenge in March 2012 and will be featured in the Sustainable Design Showcase, themed "Home is where the heart is" -  an exhibition set to travel South Africa and Scandinavia in 2012.