Community-based design through the enactive concept of participatory sense-making: the case of water care in the Moravia neighbourhood of Medellín, Colombia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Community-based design has become established in the design scene due to its advantages and new values, of which there is ample evidence. In this article, we document a real case of a design process with a vulnerable community in the Moravia neighbourhood in the city of Medellín (Colombia) where the methodological elements and the values that predominate in this type of design processes are described. The preliminary results of the intervention yield very positive outcomes in relation to the original design objectives. However, the theoretical exploration of why these forms of design can be more effective when it comes to changing cultural practices has been scarcely studied. We believe that we can extend and adapt explanations from the theories of social cognition of enactivism, especially, with its concept of participatory sense-making to justify the creation of the new meanings and practices that community design offers. Indeed, we believe that the introduction of new artefacts situated in specific contexts that are conceived from a participatory conception, create new nodes of meanings that can be more successful in transforming practices in the communities participating in their own design processes.