Co-designing Community Infrastructure in Dwenase, Ghana

Hager, Robert H.; Frohlich, Max D.; Pereira, Carly; White, Leah A.

Student Work

Co-designing Community Infrastructure in Dwenase, Ghana Public

The goal of this project was to create a drainage system for the parking lot of the Dwenase Health Center. During the rainy season the area in front of the Center became flooded by rains flowing in from the road and poor parking lot grading. As engineers, we have had experience with designing, but we lack the regional understanding and expertise of the local residents. For this project, then, we utilized our experience as designers while incorporating their knowledge of the problem. Co-design involves a free exchange of ideas between partners. We thought we were co-designing with the community. However, they were co-designing us. This applied to our work and our personal lives. Thus, knowledge flows both ways—even when do not think we are coproducing, we are.

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