A Definition For Humanitarian Design?
After reading the many posts and articles discussing Emily Piloton of Project H and Bruce Nussbaum about Humanitarian Design, I’m left thinking there is a lot of hot air and chest puffing going on. I’m not sure there is an easy, clear answer to this debate and maybe there does not need to be one. The center of this debate is the role designers play in solving problems faced by cultures around the world versus solving problems where they live. How equipped are they to be involved in different cultures and provide lasting and necessary impact?

Nussbaum contends that designers wanting to save the world need to tread carefully when playing in other people’s back yards. They might actually be adding to and creating bigger problems with their intrusion and interference. Why not work on problems at home? He points a finger directly at organizations like Project H, Architecture for Humanity and Acumen Fund with his personal account of seeing how local cultures react to their presence. The reaction to Nussbaum from Emily Piloton is to be careful where you are pointing. She fully admits to mistakes her organization made with their first project the Hippo Roller. Moving forward, Project H has made a commitment of partnering with local designers within local cultures. To prove her point, she discusses how she moved the organization to Bertie, North Carolina where they will be working with local school districts to improve the quality of education. Other thought leaders have gotten into the debate including Alex Steffen, Robert Fabricant, and Cameron Sinclair.
A few weeks ago I attended an event by the local Seattle IDSA called “Can Designers Save the World”. This event contained many of the same discussions of this debate featuring a panel of designers who practice design in many cultures all over the world. I enjoyed the event, but found more insight when talking to Kara Pecknold from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (one of the panelists) afterward about her experiences in Rwanda. To be honest I went into that event thinking much like Bruce Nussbaum. Why are we so focused on problems in other countries when we have some real and significant problems right here. As I talked to Kara, I realized that she was changing my perspective on this. Not that she was convincing me to start working on design projects in far away lands (not her intent either), but that you need to be passionate about the work you do for others. For me personally, that means working on issues right here in the Pacific Northwest. Just because I believe my efforts need to be spent here, does not mean every designers’ efforts should. It is not my right to judge what is appropriate for other people.
If you are genuine in your approach, you will find a way to make the work you do beneficial to your chosen cause. Maybe, this is a bit naive and simplistic. After all, not all good intentions work out, but I think that is part of the equation. When you want to give yourself freely to a cause it is not going to be easy. If you fail or run into a wall no one is going to take over and do it for you. That is part of the journey. It is hard work that takes the effort of hundreds of thankless hours, tenacity to get up after being knocked down time and time again, and vision to look beyond the unknown future and darkness ahead of you. This focus of the debate is in agreement in all the discussions I have read. Western trained designers are not going to swoop down into an impoverished area and make everything right with the flip of a switch.
We all have life experiences and skill sets that are uniquely ours. Some of us are prepared to do specific types of design in certain environments that others are not. This is not by chance. While external events may cause us to move down certain paths, I find they are often enough preparing us for a challenge in the future. Everyone has made many choices in their life to get to where they are today. While many people may share similar experiences, thoughts and view points, you alone, truly know what is in your heart. I sit in no place to judge others on the best use of their time and energy. They must decide that for themselves and be honest with what they hope to achieve. This is not a cop-out, because in many cases the people you are collaborating with are most directly affected by those actions and will hold you accountable.
Do we need to categorize Humanitarian Design and determine what it is and is not? I hope not. Doing good work for people should not be defined by others who have not walked the same path of life you have.



