The ‘Where There is no Engineer – Designing for Community Resilience’ design challenge is a development initiative funded by Irish Aid and delivered in partnership with Engineers Ireland, Engineers Without Borders Ireland and Concern Worldwide. The competition will focus on communities in Concern’s programmes in Kenya and will allow participants to develop creative solutions to real-life development projects. The competition is open to both undergraduates and professionals. Detailed information on how to get involved is available on the project website or by contacting liam.mccarton@dit.ie.
At the national launch on 21 October, Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton spoke of her support for the initiative and also of her hope that it would inspire students and professionals alike to create change and find opportunities to improve communities in developing countries and promote development education across a range of disciplines. Other speakers at the event, which took place in the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Grangegorman campus, also took up the theme of development education.
Prof Brian Norton, DIT President, emphasised the role and importance that DIT attached to development education across a range of disciplines. Dominic MacSorley, CEO of Concern Worldwide, spoke of the opportunity that the initiative posed to link communities within Concern’s development projects in Kenya, with undergraduates and professional engineers in Ireland, to benefit from their knowledge and experience in proposing practical and state of the art solutions.
The program co-ordinator, Liam McCarton of the Development Technology Research Group in DIT and also a director of Engineers Without Borders Ireland (EWB-Ireland), explained the structure and format of the challenge. The design brief is based on a set of global themes applicable to a specific country, as identified by the development partner, Concern Worldwide.
The programme will operate at different levels ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate to professionals. It is open to students and professionals across the disciplines of engineering, architecture, urban planning, science, business, social science, arts, media etc. Organisations participating within other development challenges within Ireland and the UK may also enter their submissions for consideration in this design initiative.
Gerry Tobin of Davies, which sponsored the prize, spoke of the opportunity the design programme offered for the winning team to get the opportunity to travel to Kenya to work with Concern to experience first hand the challenges communities face daily.
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Gerry Tobin, Davies; Liam McCarton , Development Technology Research Group, DIT; Prof Brian Norton, DIT president[/caption]
Outstanding undergraduate and professional teams will be invited to participate in the National Finals. The overall project winner will get the opportunity to travel to the programme country to work with our development partners. At undergraduate level, there are individual and team sections. The project can run over semester one or two, depending on the course requirements. A professional design initiative will run parallel to the undergraduate programme, whereby individual companies or consortiums will be invited to participate in teams to undertake a detailed design brief based on a specific project as identified by the development partner, Concern Worldwide.
Design programme themes
This design initiative is an opportunity to challenge participants to create change and find opportunities to improve communities across a range of spectrums. There are six programme themes. Each theme will explore the relationship between people, technology and the environment whilst focusing on appropriate sustainable systems using locally sourced materials.
1. Climate-resilient infrastructure
The post-climate change era is upon us. However, designers are still struggling to understand and plan for a greater variability in climate. Many developments are still being constructed on the assumption that the climate in future will be similar to that of the present. Projects within this theme will take a different approach. By making these infrastructures more climate proof, this will add an additional level of complexity, but will also add a new level of resilience for communities within the developing countries.
2. Self-supply water and sanitation
A safe and sustainable water supply, basic sanitation and good hygiene are fundamental for a healthy and productive community. Chronic diarrheal diseases and malnutrition induce a negative spiral into poverty. Rapidly increasing urban populations, together with a post-climate change era will increase the vulnerability of already stressed communities and regions. This theme supports rural livelihoods by promoting food security, health and productive activities and demands innovative approaches to the provision of rural water, sanitation and hygiene.
3. Community participatory health
Traditional health management approaches have often failed to mobilise grassroots groups. Community participatory health involves the participation of the community in the identification and management of their own health issues. Projects within this theme will focus on different levels ranging from medical diagnosis and treatment of new diseases, to community education techniques and software for preventative and management of health issues.
4. On and off (micro) grid-energy systems
The lack of access to energy services dramatically affects and undermines health, limits opportunities for education and development. The problem of energy access for the poor has become even more acute because of the increased vulnerability brought about by climate change, the global financial crisis and volatile energy prices. Projects within this theme will explore solutions to energy supply using both on and off/micro grid systems.
5. Food security
Climate change will affect all aspects of food security. It will impact on food availability, food accessibility, food utilization and food systems stability. Regions which are already vulnerable to food insecurity face immediate risk of increased crop failure, new patterns of pests and diseases, lack of appropriate seeds and loss of livestock. It is necessary to strengthen the resilience of communities to help them cope with the additional threat to food security. Projects within this theme will seek to address the shifting vulnerabilities in both developing and developed countries.
6. Applying Big Data in the community
Big Data refers to the quantity and diversity of high frequency digital data. Advancements in Big Data analysis may offer cost-effective opportunities to improve decision-making in areas such as infrastructure, health care, water and sanitation, livelihoods, food security, natural disaster and resource management. Challenges within developing regions such as inadequate technological infrastructure and economic and human resource scarcity need to be overcome before the full potential of big data in the community is realised. This theme will explore the relationship between big data and the community.
Outstanding undergraduate and professional teams will be invited to participate in the National Finals to take place in June 2015. The overall winning project team will get the opportunity to travel to the program country to work with our development partners.
For further information, see: www.dit.ie/dtc.