Design as response to local challenges: Design platform launched in Jordan

AMMAN — Jordan, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Crown Prince Foundation (CPF) and Empowering through™ on Monday launched the Design Jordan digital platform at TechWorks. 

Design Jordan is a digital platform that features the designs of 42 designers across Jordan and 19 articles by experts in different fields of design. The platform shares insights and tools for designers to enhance their skills, become self-employed and scale their impact, according to a UNDP statement.

“The concept behind the platform came as the pandemic changed the world and changed us,” read the statement.

“The challenge of producing another coffee-table book in the pandemic led to our idea to showcase the beauty of design in Jordan through a digital platform,” UNDP said.

UNDP Resident Representative Sara Ferrer Olivella said: “Raising global concerns about climate change, economic and social problems, poverty, equity and equality make it imperative to adopt an approach of sustainable consumption and production, an area that was highlighted in Agenda 2030 as one of the 17 sustainable development goals. 

“Therefore, sustainable design becomes an important area through which designers can take these social, economic and environmental concerns as key elements in their products’ innovation and development strategies”.

The Design Jordan platform is an example of how youth-led “design” can improve efficiency, produce quality and marketable opportunities (local and international) and improve environmental sustainability by providing innovative solutions to local challenges, the statement said.

The partnerships supporting the platform are working towards providing youth with marketable skills and creating more employment opportunities for young men and women in Jordan.

Tamam Mango, CEO of the Crown Prince Foundation, said: “The Crown Prince Foundation has been interested in digital fabrication and 3D printing to support innovation. This interest prompted the launch of TechWorks, our digital fabrication lab.” 

She also added: “Design is the cornerstone of the digital fabrication process. From our daily interactions with youth across Jordan, we noticed that the most prominent challenge faced by aspiring young people is how to transform their ideas into implementable and feasible designs. This is exactly the kind of support that the technical team at TechWorks is always keen on providing.” 

“We are very pleased to host the design platform’s launch at TechWorks today,” she said. 

The partners of this platform include: Wavato, Jabal Amman Publishers, The Outfit, Amman Design Week, Jordan Fashion Week, Jordan River Designs, Design Institute Amman, Dezain, Silsal, Waragami, Design Battlefield, Kama, H2 Interiors, Dimitris, Kheit, The Italian embassy in Jordan, Chamber Gyld, Maysalward, Interior ph, Pioneers, SADDA, Mad Hook, the Ministry of Youth, Studio Be, Design Ideas Studio, Orient Spirit, Amman Arab University, Souq Fann, Forsa, Antwork, Shams El Balad, Musab Accessories, All Jordan Youth Commission.

“We are grateful to our partners and contributors and are thrilled to shed light on stories of our inspirational individuals with the world,” said Empowering through™ co-founders Dina Saoudi, Abdul Majeed Shoman Jr. and Danish Farhan. 

Empowering through™ is a new breed of social enterprise founded by Seven Circles and Xische Ventures with the purpose of empowering ecosystems to enable individuals economically and socially, the statement said.