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How to become a
Community Designer
What is a Community Designer?
Identity and sense of belonging are the glue between people, essential factors for addressing social and environmental challenges both globally and locally. To transfer these values, it is necessary to develop tools and spaces that foster dialogue and inclusion. This is indeed the task of the Community Designer - a facilitator and catalyst for social change. From studying the peculiarities of a territory to implementing apps and online platforms, their tasks can vary, including the development of physical, digital, and hybrid spaces, services, and objects. Creative thinking, analytical skills, and knowledge of design principles are the foundation of their expertise.
What does a Community Designer do?
The primary purpose of a Community Designer is to engage a certain group of people around one or more common interests, whether it's activists dialoguing online from around the world or a neighborhood intending to embark on a revitalization project. Projects can range from urban redevelopment to social inclusion and educational programs. Their first task, therefore, is to understand their needs, challenges, and aspirations through qualitative research, interviews, quantitative methods, and big data analysis. Subsequently, the professional and the project team collaborate with community members to devise creative and feasible solutions. This may involve designing public spaces, social programs, services, apps, and other interventions. Once implemented, tested, and operationalized, the Community Designer may be involved in project management (from organizing events and workshops to moments of discussion). Moreover, they are called upon to play an advocacy role in relevant forums, mobilize social fabric, and raise community awareness, promoting the cause as well as seeking funding and partnerships.
What skills should a Community Designer have?
The skill set of a Community Designer includes creativity, analytical and design skills, as well as human attitudes and sensitivities.
- Data analysis, qualitative and quantitative research skills, community studies.
- Competence in collaborative design and implementation of creative solutions oriented towards social challenges.
- Practical knowledge of design tools, software, and research methods.
- Networking skills to build relationships with organizations, institutions, and other stakeholders.
- Understanding of community dynamics to effectively guide the design process.
How to become a Community Designer?
The background to fill this role and manage complex projects can be the result of experience, but increasingly, the importance of a professional training process is recognized. NABA's two-year Specialization Program in Social Design begins by addressing the theme of community design dedicated to the development of a project for a product, space, event, or service for people. Here, the student acquires the methodological tools necessary for research and implementation of solutions, explores different approaches, and approaches the anthropological study of communities.
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