Co-design or vampirize? The role of design in community processes

UOC Audiovisual & Sound LAB (Rambla del Poblenou, 154 08018 Barcelona)
Design has always been presented as a transformative force, but often the person designing becomes a vampire who extracts experiences and data from communities to develop projects that make them the protagonist of the transformation. The communities targeted or with whom they “co-create” become a backdrop, turning so-called social design into a kind of socialwashing, with a questionable impact or even making participants uncomfortable.

What is the social responsibility of design? Is the designer a savior of communities? Or are they a vampire? Does design solve lives through creative knowledge?

At the round table “Co-design or vampirize? The role of design in community processes,” we want to address this issue. We want to review practices (instrumentalization, speaking for others, perpetuating stigma and invisibility), question privileges, and imagine forms of genuine participation that do not use people as props but recognize them as full agents.

If you are part of a critical design community, if you are concerned about the power wielded by our profession and want to help transform it, we invite you to take part in this debate.

The round table will be in Catalan and Spanish, and admission is free with prior registration; capacity is limited and reduced.

IN COLLABORATION WITH: