The recent soft launching of the Kalibutan Project at Montebello Villa Hotel got me all excited by what’s in store for us creative Cebuanos !
The Kalibutan Project is a design community initiative to address specific problems that MSMEs are facing during this pandemic.
Spearheaded by the DTI Region 7 Central Visayas, supported by the DTI – Design Center of the Philippines with the participation of a select group of product and communication designers.
For the last 500 years, the city of Cebu, home to a population of 923,000, has been a hub of trade, culture and innovation. Traditionally known for furniture, arts and crafts, and fashion design, Cebu is generally considered to be the country’s design capital.
In recent years, Cebu has also become a global hub for multimedia arts and IT outsourcing. In 2008, Cebu was designated a British Council Creative City of Design and was the ASEAN City of Culture in 2015.
Cebu City has always been very supportive of the arts, best epitomized by Sinulog – the country’s longest-running festival that attracts 2 million visitors annually, showcasing Cebuano heritage and imagination.
The first Cebu Design Week in 2018 ignited a multi-disciplinary, multi-format series of events that connected the fragmented creative ecosystem, providing opportunities for the creation, collaboration and development of long-term platforms for sustainable development. These events were perhaps the most significant owing to their promoting of cross-sectoral collaborations and multi-disciplinary approaches to achieving unique and effective results that are socially-inclusive, environmentally-respectful and economically-sustainable.
In this new normal, the Department of Trade and Industry Philippines Region 7 (DTI 7) has been doing more than merely rebooting economies and livelihoods after the massive losses brought on by the pandemic. We expect our recovery initiatives to also improve a community’s resilience.To be sure, DTI 7 and other government agencies, as well as big businesses have a large role to play in introducing policies and large-scale initiatives to address major concerns. However, this does not preclude creative individuals, local design communities and small businesses from doing their part.
Get more information on how the DTI 7 has been helping the craft, design communities through the Kalibutan Project. Visit the website at https://www.kalibutanproject.com/
Too often, sustainability and resilience is misconstrued to be just about the environment when in fact, one must factor in the economic and social dimensions — which are both equally important. Utilizing this framework, we should also examine what the key metrics are for each dimension as clearly explained in the website designcebu.com
Initiatives usually span more than one dimension and can result in multiple positive outcomes but ultimately, they will lead to enhanced social well-being and genuine sustainable progress.
Before we continue let us first examine the four phases of disaster response so we have a better context of the situation.
REACTION: Also called the mitigation phase, this is the first juncture that immediately occurs after an external shock. It is at this stage that the impacted individuals or communities attempt to limit the adverse effects that come with the particular disaster.
ADAPTATION: In this stage, those affected cope, learn and adjust to the situation by altering habits, mechanisms and lifestyles.
RECOVERY: At this point, disaster victims begin to recuperate and convalesce in the many different aspects of their lives.
RESILIENCE: Long term fortitude is achieved when new habits, processes and systems that were established to initially cope with the disaster become entrenched and are institutionalized.
After nearly two years of COVID19, the Philippines still lags the rest of the world in recovery. However, most of would agree that, as of this writing, the country, as a whole, is somewhere between recovery and resilience.
Let me reiterate what creative entrepreneur Gil Zaire “Butch” Carungay stated in his written article Pandemic Recovery by Design.
” In order for us to formulate recovery and resilience strategies, it is also important for us to understand the dynamic interrelations among various personal and environmental factors. Called social-economic models, these were introduced in the 1970s as a concept, formalized as a theory in the 1980s and is best associated with the Russian-born American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner.
These systems contend that one thing always affects another and nothing happens in a vacuum. It is therefore necessary to take into account all these layers as we explore ways on how we, as designers, can indeed help build back better.
1. Lifelong Learning & Upskilling
In the information age, knowledge is the most valuable currency and accessing it has never been easier. It is therefore incumbent upon us to continue to educate ourselves build on our skill sets and apply them in valuable ways. It is also important share the accumulated learnings with others – whether they be in your family unit, your business or your community at large.
2. Boost Hyper-Collaboration
One good offshoot of COVID-19 is that it has accelerated the rate of digital adoption – leapfrogging development, in some estimates, by about five years. This means that the number of people utilizing all these new apps and tools have reached a critical mass. This phenomenon has ushered in a new era of hyper-collaboration that have no signs of abating. Whether its for knowledge exchange, inspiration or just being part of a support group, these different types of working together have increased exponentially because tech has facilitated the ease and efficiency of gathering people online.
3. Leverage Technology
In addition to enabling hyper-collaboration, tech has also hastened the pace and improved the quality of design, manufacturing, evaluation and feedback mechanisms. Industry 4.0 which arrived unevenly in 2016 is in the throes of widespread adoption – computer aided design is standard, rapid prototyping is common and social media feedback is rampant. The advent of digital makerspaces have also improved inclusivity by allowing designers who do no have access manufacturing facilities to realize and actualize their ideas.
4. Acknowledge and Address the Digital Divide
With technology being so pervasive in our daily lives, it is therefore necessary for designers to introduce open innovations, hybrid approaches and binary solutions so no one is truly left behind.
5. Community-Based Design
It has been demonstrated that almost everyone has the potential to be a designer. It is thus important for designers to engage with their local communities.
6. Designing for Circularity
The concept of circular economies that disrupt the tradition linear model of production and consumption have been around for a while. However, unlike most of the aforementioned topics, the circular economy movement has been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the need for single-use personal and protective equipment and the sure in online shopping and food take-out and deliveries. “
I hope that the concepts and explanations I’ve posted here are able to inspire businesses to embed some of these practices in their recovery strategies.
Turns out, tapping into our creative energy can actually improve our overall health. Simply engaging in creative behaviors improves brain function, mental health, and physical health.
So, if creativity is good for our body, it probably is good for business too.
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