ALL MEMBERS INCLUDED - EXAMPLES OF DESIGN COLLABORATION WITH JAPANESE SOCIAL WELFARE ORGANISATIONS THROUGH SHARED DESIGN METHODS AND PROCESSES
Year: 2018
Editor: Elies Dekoninck, Andrew Wodehouse, Chris Snider, Georgi Georgiev, Gaetano Cascini
Author: Laila Frances Cassim
Series: ICDC
Section: POSTER 2: SHORT PRESENTATIONS
Page(s): 296-305
ISBN: 9781912254071
Abstract
In the last half-century, viewing disability as a social and human right enabled a raft of legislation achieving equal access to mainstream education, employment, and public services to be passed. Enabling equal human rights implies social inclusion. The benchmark for social inclusion has been heavily weighted on independent living and mainstream employment. For people with severe learning disabilities or mental health issues, it has been hard to secure mainstream employment and financial security. In Japan, in preparation for 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, the government and charitable foundations are striving to provide creative opportunities for disabled people. By introducing co-design based projects, this paper focuses on how the linkage of creative activities and the strategic use of design and digital fabrication technology underpinned by the collaboration of many parties - can enable new forms of financial and social empowerment for people with severe learning disabilities and mental illness who would otherwise have difficulty gaining mainstream employment.
Keywords: Co-design, Social Welfare and Disability, Digital Prototyping, Design Workshop, Collaboration