STBY recently went to Nairobi to work with local design research partners on the preparations for the latest Global Design Challenge on Clean Energy. Through workshops with creatives and energy experts we explored local energy issues and developed a better understanding of the Kenyan perspectives on climate change.
With the initial desk research by STBY as a starting point, we jointly dove deeper into the local context of energy availability and usage. One of the related topics that came up quite strongly was food and eating. This is why, together with Hivos Nairobi, we decided to take the topic of ‘Eating in the City’ as the main focus for the design brief.
The workshops helped to craft a local challenge that resonates with Nairobians. The participants were local experts from the field of energy, food systems, and design. Local relevancy is essential in stimulating participants in the Clean Energy Challenge to come up with ideas that really fit the local conditions.
In follow up to the workshops we did some further research on ‘Eating in the City’ as we wanted to better understand issues around sustainable food practices and systems in Nairobi from a range of local perspectives. We also wanted to identify where design could make the most impact. This is all included in the final briefing package.
You can download the briefs we made for the Clean Energy Challenge on the website of What Design can do. You can choose one of the following challenges: Eating in Nairobi, Moving around in Sao Paul, Building in Delhi, Waste in Mexico City, and Cityscape of Amsterdam.