Design for Togetherness

The study of community life has long been an area dom­ inated by fields such as sociology and urban planning. Increasingly however also the field of design steps in to actively uncover latent needs and potential within communities in order to jointly develop solutions and plant seeds of positive change. When assessing to­ day’s neighbourhoods’ challenges, a crucial ingredient for resilience appears to be a positive sense of togeth­ erness. Socio­cultural megatrends such as the individ­ ualization of Western society and the loss of social cohesion are frequently mentioned as threats to this sense of togetherness and consequently to healthy community life. Furthermore, both community mem­ bers as well local authorities are rediscovering the ben­ efits of resilient communities built around a positive sense of togetherness in contrast to those delegat­ ing responsibilities and problem solving strength to third parties. During a 3 month case study, product design and communication & multimedia design stu­ dents from the KHLIM Media & Design Academy in Genk, Belgium, went out into the surrounding former mining neighbourhoods.Their core challenge: How can we – designers and community together – stimulate togetherness through design?