We Are Human Rights

A collaborative experiment exploring the ways in which design thinking can benefit the work of Human Rights Defenders.

civic society

challenge

How can design solutions support Human Right Defenders in the challenges they face?

impact

An exhibition in Eindhoven during Dutch Design Week 2018, and a publication about the research about collaborations with HRD’s.

designers

Lucandrea Baraldi
Maxime Benvenuto
Kornelia Dimitrova
Bernhard Lenger
Daeun Lim
Hannah van Luttervelt
Jella Lena van Eck
Karen van Luttervelt

partners

Justice & Peace

Shelter City

designers

Lucandrea Baraldi
Maxime Benvenuto
Kornelia Dimitrova
Bernhard Lenger
Daeun Lim
Hannah van Luttervelt
Jella Lena van Eck
Karen van Luttervelt

Human Rights Defenders everywhere face continuous struggles and systemic obstacles. Within their own growing community they are able to share their experiences and compare notes. However, the solutions and strategies they develop are often limited to and restricted by the limits of their own professional field. We Are Human Rights, a design research project, aimed to broaden the scope; seven designers teamed up with seven Human Rights Defenders (HDRs) to come up with novel, relevant tools and applicable strategies to defend and promote human rights.

partners

Justice & Peace

Shelter City

We are devoted advocates of the notion of design as an extensive tool for problem-solving and strategising in complex fields such as international law and ethics. The We Are Human Rights pilot study was our first project in which this conviction was put into practice. The goal was to support the collaborating Human Rights Defenders without putting them in danger and without turning their stories and struggles into spectacle.

Seven designers teamed up with seven HRDs; these pairs zoomed in on the specific problems or topics the individual HRD faced. This resulted in seven concepts or project proposals that would considerably improve the HDR’s life and work.

We are devoted advocates of the notion of design as an extensive tool for problem-solving and strategising in complex fields such as international law and ethics. The We Are Human Rights pilot study was our first project in which this conviction was put into practice. The goal was to support the collaborating Human Rights Defenders without putting them in danger and without turning their stories and struggles into spectacle.

Seven designers teamed up with seven HRDs; these pairs zoomed in on the specific problems or topics the individual HRD faced. This resulted in seven concepts or project proposals that would considerably improve the HDR’s life and work.

Human Rights Defenders everywhere face continuous struggles and systemic obstacles. Within their own growing community they are able to share their experiences and compare notes. However, the solutions and strategies they develop are often limited to and restricted by the limits of their own professional field. We Are Human Rights, a design research project, aimed to broaden the scope; seven designers teamed up with seven Human Rights Defenders (HDRs) to come up with novel, relevant tools and applicable strategies to defend and promote human rights.

Exhibition and research publication

The results of the seven collaborations were exhibited during Dutch Design Week 2018. Visitors were offered an immersive, narrative experience; an audio tour allowed them to dive into the HDRs’ gripping stories and matters at stake.

The outcomes of the projects were gathered and published in a book. The publication not only highlights the respective results, but also reflects on the process and provides invaluable insights into the possibilities of this collaborative design practice.

The We Are Human Rights exhibition welcomed close to 1800 visitors during Dutch Design Week and garnered significant amounts of media attention; it was even mentioned as one of the best exhibitions of Dutch Design Week 2018 by Volkskrant journalist Jeroen Junte.

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Featured image for “We Are Human Rights”

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