betterplace and social design

What is social design?

We cannot not change the world - the socialdesignsite shows design ideas and initiatives for the other 90 %. Design is not just about beautiful products, or architecture, it’s about creating culture and space for a better living. It’s about the “social implications”. Take the hippo water roler, for example:

The Hippo Water Roller is a barrel-shaped container designed to transport 90 liters (20 gallons) of water. It was designed for communities, particularly in Africa, where providing a household with water requires walking up to two-three hours to the nearest source and back every day. Traditionally the women and children of the communities carry out the task of getting the water. They are able to carry as much as 20 liters (5 gallons) in tanks on their heads.

We at betterplace are known to be fans of the World Toilet Organisation, another great (design) initiative with a real social impact.

betterplace is proud to be featured in the socialdesignsite’s introductory movie to social design. It was shown on the PRaDSA workshop Designing for the 21st Century: Using Web 2.0 Technologies (and Social Networking Tools) for Social Action in London. Right now Suk-Han, Joana, and their team, are on their way to conferences in New York and Torino, Italy. Thank you for taking us along.

Watch the movie hereand understand why we cannot not change the world!