We Are Human Rights develops tools for change by pairing designers with activists
Designers have developed projects for human-rights defenders in seven countries: Sudan, Nicaragua, Colombia, Russia, Kenya, Mexico and Burundi. More
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IKEA supports marginalised women in India with handmade homeware collection
Banana-fibre baskets and handwoven textiles feature in IKEA's seventh Innehållsrik collection, made in collaboration with small-scale producers in India. More
Machine that extracts water from air repurposed for humanitarian efforts
A machine originally designed for the military, which extracts water from the air, is now being used for humanitarian missions to bring safe drinking water to areas struck by natural disaster or poverty. More
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Lahti University students design furniture for victims of displacement
Ten students from Finland's Lahti University of Applied Sciences have designed a collection of essential furniture items for those affected by natural disasters and the ongoing refugee crisis. More
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IKEA aims to take 200,000 people out of poverty in massive social sustainability drive
IKEA is to employ refugees at production centres in Jordan this summer as part of a long-term plan to create employment for 200,000 disadvantaged people around the world through social entrepreneurship programmes. More
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Architecture students build latticed-wood community centre in German refugee camp
Architecture students from Germany's University of Kaiserslautern have built this wooden community centre for a refugee camp in Mannheim, which is fronted by a latticed screen. More
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Humanitarian experts propose turning refugee camps into enterprise zones called "refugee cities"
Refugee camps should be rebadged as cities and turned into enterprise zones so inhabitants can set up businesses and build their own infrastructure, according to a new report. More
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Socially responsible design in America presented in Cooper Hewitt exhibition
Design solutions for a wide range of social concerns, from rapid-recovery housing to drinking water access for migrants, are featured in a new show at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. More
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"World's first" flat-pack truck designed to deliver aid to developing countries
This flat-packed delivery truck is designed to be easily disassembled and packed away in under 12 hours (+ slideshow). More
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"Design is always political" says What Design Can Do founder
Dezeen promotion: designers can engage with social and political problems that are sometimes too big for governments to tackle, says Richard van der Laken, founder of annual social design conference What Design Can Do (+ interview). More
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What Design Can Do Refugee Challenge unveils 25 shortlisted projects to improve refugee's lives
Dezeen promotion: 25 designs that offer a range of solutions for improving the lives of refugees living in urban environments have been shortlisted for the first What Design Can Do Refugee Challenge (+ slideshow). More
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What Design Can Do Refugee Challenge receives more than 600 entries
Dezeen promotion: more than 600 entries have been submitted by designers, architects and students for a competition aiming to discover projects that can improve the lives of refugees around the world. More
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Norman Foster reveals vaulted Droneport prototype at Venice Architecture Biennale
Venice Architecture Biennale 2016: Foster + Partners has unveiled the first full-scale prototype of its Droneport concept at the Arsenale, which is designed to transport medical supplies to remote regions in Africa using unmanned flying vehicles (+ slideshow). More
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Agbogbloshie Makerspace Platform creates mobile workshops for world's largest e-waste dump
A team of architects have launched an initiative to build a network of "makerspace" structures at Agbogbloshie, Ghana – the world's largest dumping site for electronic waste (photos by Julien Lanoo + slideshow). More
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MoMA's Insecurities exhibition to address the global refugee crisis
New York's Museum of Modern Art has announced an exhibition of projects that aim to tackle the issue of shelter for migration and global refugee emergencies. More
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"Designers cannot just stand by and watch as the refugee crisis unfolds"
Opinion: designers can't save the world, but even the smallest intervention could help improve the conditions faced by the unprecedented number of refugees flooding Europe, says Richard van der Laken. More
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"Treating the refugee crisis as a design problem is problematic"
Opinion: initiatives like What Design Can Do's Refugee Challenge encourage designers to believe that they can solve international problems that go far beyond their reach, says Ruben Pater. More
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Architects for Society designs low-cost hexagonal shelters for refugees
Minnesota-based Architects for Society has developed a prototype for a rapidly deployable dwelling that could house victims of catastrophic events (+ slideshow). More
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Architecture for Humanity relaunches as Open Architecture Collaborative
Following the bankruptcy and collapse of Architecture for Humanity in 2015, local chapters have banded together to create a new organisation called Open Architecture Collaborative (+ movie). More
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"The architectural community cannot remain apathetic to Calais' Jungle and the refugee crisis"
Opinion: last week, local authorities in Calais began destroying sections of the Jungle – the sprawling refugee and migrant camp that has become a symbol of Europe's immigration crisis. It's time that architects stepped in to help provide a solution that actually works, says architect Jeannie S Lee, who visited the camp with her London studio EVA. More
