This paper shares findings and insights from across IDIN's research program. The paper introduces and clarifies the concept of local innovation and shares two key pathways through which local innovation contributes to local development in the contexts that were included in the research.
This collection of case studies illustrates the range of outcomes that D-Lab's Creative Capacity Building trainings have had in communities across Uganda. The cases illustrate an evolution in the ways that CCB alumni apply the design process after the training is over: a progression from designing for income, to designing for resilience, to designing for development.
Boa Vista do Acará is a small agricultural community in Northern Brazil that consistently faces financial instability. This interferes with their access to basic social services such as healthcare and education. Currently, Boa Vista harvests 50 tons of herbs per year, however, rather than distilling essential oil themselves, they sell their herbs as wholesale raw material to the Natura company. If Natura were to ever pull out of their contract, Boa Vista would be in a financial crisis. Therefore the ability to distill essential oils independently would allow Boa Vista Do Acará residents to stabilize their income source. Currently, our team is partnering with with the Association of Organic Farmers of Boa Vista do Acará (APOBV) to build an oil distillation device specifically to suit the needs of this community.
IDDS participants and community partners sought to elevate the value of silk products to generate a fair income for silk weavers in their 40s to 60s who love the silk-weaving craft. The team co-created a collection of silk products with silk weavers and village teenagers by setting up a fashion show/booth to display and deliver products to customers, demonstrating the potential for youth and weavers to collaborate in selling silk products to untapped markets.
A team of students from UC Davis D-Lab partnered with the Association of Organic Farmers of Boa Vista do Acará (APOBV) to build an oil distillation device as a follow-up to IDDS Amazon in 2016. They designed an oil distiller that can be built with local tools and materials, operate in humid conditions with fire as the primary energy source and produce oil at high quality in a high quantity to sell to tourists in local markets. This report chronicles the development and testing of this device.
This report presents the research of IDIN Summer Research Fellow Sera Tolgay, who investigated how small-scale farmers in the Jordan River Valley are adapting and innovating in light of challenge of severe water scarcity in this region. She focused in particular on the adoption of water-saving technologies and how these were impacting the farmers and their livelihoods.
IDDS participants and community members developed a double blade weed killer to address post-planting weed removal. The objective behind the device was to effectively remove the weed without the need for the user to bend over, and it can be easily pushed or pulled in the paddy field while keeping the weight as light as possible. The design is inspired by similar weed removal tools from African countries and Cambodia.
This report was created by a team of participants at IDDS Sisaket. It aims to share information and knowledge gleaned from the team’s work during the summit.
IDDS participants and community partners collaborated with local farmers to understand their problems and find effective ways to reduce the invasive snail population and destruction of young shoots by juvenile snails. They designed an integrated duck farming system for rice growers. Ducks are introduced to control snails, weeds, and other pests. Duckweed is introduced to provide supplemental feed and nutrition to the ducks, reduce weeds, and provide nitrogen to the rice plants. Ducks can then be sold at the end of each season.
This report was created by a team of participants at IDDS Sisaket. It aims to share information and knowledge gleaned from the team’s work during the summit.
IDDS participants and community partners developed a rotating barrel fit with a drainage system that is ideal for creating compost. There are also future plans to create seperate compartments that allow for multiple batches of compost to be created at once. The team also used educational posters to inform community members of what can and cannot be included in compost components. This report is in Spanish.
This report was created by a team of participants at IDDS Hogares Sostenibles. It aims to share information and knowledge gleaned from the team’s work during the summit.
IDDS participants and community members designed vertical gardens that can be hung in a variety of locations. Growing nutritious and useful foods, families can increase their nutrient intake while easily growing from the comfort of their home. Educational cards are included with helpful information on sustaining the plants. This report is in Spanish.
This report was created by a team of participants at IDDS Hogares Sostenibles. It aims to share information and knowledge gleaned from the team’s work during the summit.
