‘Designerly Ways’ for Sustainable Livelihoods

Process for designing design supports for sustainable livelihoods

In this blog post, we will explore the concept of 'designerly ways' for sustainable livelihoods. The sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) is centered around developing people by building their strengths and bringing relevant aspects of their lives and livelihoods into the development process. The SL framework consists of five core components: vulnerability context, livelihood assets, policies-institutions-processes, livelihood strategies, and livelihood outcomes. Similarly, the designerly approach requires cross-disciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge and expertise to deal with complex, interrelated issues. Both SLA and designerly approaches aim to help stakeholders address and realize their constraints and opportunities by bringing together various relevant stakeholders. SLA stresses the need to bridge the gap between macro-level policy and institutions and the influence of the same on livelihood options of grassroots-level communities and individuals. In contrast, designerly ways require effective communication with stakeholders to reach a sustainable solution on all three dimensions (social, economic and environment), contextually appropriate, and with mutually agreed trade-offs. The 'designerly ways' concept highlights the significance of understanding the relationship between decisions and activities, analyzing the inherent potential of the people involved, and eliminating the constraints in the path of realization of those potentials. By incorporating this approach into sustainable livelihoods, we can create an integrated approach that ensures sustainable livelihoods for all stakeholders.
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​To read some research cases from our lab, visit: Banerjee S., Upadhyay P., Punekar R.M. (2022). ‘‘Designerly Ways’ for Sustainable Livelihoods’. In: Melles G.B. (eds) Designing Social Innovation for Sustainable Livelihoods. Design Science and Innovation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8452-4_4.