This is a CTP of initiative: DESIS - ID+ DESIS Lab, Aveiro (Portugal)
This project became one of the first projects developed at the University of Aveiro that related design, social innovation and sustainability. Through this project, work in this field started to be developed at the university. New partnerships were established and the institute (+ID) started to be recognized in the city of Aveiro and in Portugal as well as abroad, as an educational institution involved in advancing the relationship between design and social innovation.
The project was called “What do we eat?”. It aimed to promote educational food activities in schools located in the poorest neighbourhoods of the city of Aveiro and explored the transformative potential of Design, and how it can promote the adoption of healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.
A Master’s student of Design developed the project. The student developed an educational service aimed to inform and engage children and their families to adopt better food habits. The main service activity is a didactic game, where students (from the 1st to 4th year) follow a storytelling process and keep record of their meals in a diary.
The pilot project involved five schools, with the participation of 181 children from the 2nd Year. The results were considered very positive. It was considered that the project managed to arouse the interest of students in pursuing healthy lifestyles, and improved their behaviour, including cases where children, on their own initiative, began to persuade families to rethink their daily habits.
“What do we eat” was developed in a partnership between the University of Aveiro and the Municipality of Aveiro. The project was initiated following a conversation between a professor of the Department of Communication and Arts and members of the city council about possible projects to be developed in the poorest neighbourhoods of Aveiro in the framework of the 2010 – European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
The development of the project involved “nutritionists, psychologists, other health professionals and professors. It also involved the participation of local associations and the support of a communications agency and a company from the food retail industry”.
2010 – European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. The project “What do we eat” was developed in relation to the framework of the European Year 2010. This European initiative highlighted the combatting of poverty as one of the key demands to be tackled by looking at poor health and reduced access to healthcare. This motivated the University of Aveiro and the Municipality of Aveiro to work in partnership to develop a project in the poorest neighbourhoods of the city that focused on food education.
2011 – First Masters dissertation on the topic of “Design for Social Innovation” at the University of Aveiro. The dissertation described the process and results of the project “What do we eat”. A playful and pedagogical kit was developed to promote food education among children in the poorest neighbourhoods in the city of Aveiro.
2011 – The research Institute for Design, Media and Culture [ID+] applied to be affiliated with the DESIS Network as a Lab. The application process required a description of the projects that were being developed in design for social innovation at the applicant’s institution. The “What do we eat” project was therefore described in the application document.
The main contestation (better framed as a barrier) came from the lack of possibilities, interest or support for students and teachers to continue the project when the course was finished.
The project “What do we eat” was very successful, but was developed only in one school year. There were no financial resources available in the Municipality to continue the project for a second year.
There was no contestation internally at the University of Aveiro and the projects were developed based on a joint effort between the professors involved. This included initial collaboration with a professor who was based in another department, which was a promising step towards strengthening internal relations in the university regarding social innovation issues.
The project advanced the practice of design for social innovation in the Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture [ID+], to create a portfolio of projects in the field. It was an important critical turning point which led to the affiliation of ID+ Institute as a DESIS Lab.
The development of projects in design for social innovation was a condition for design schools to become affiliated with the DESIS Network and therefore “What do we eat” was considered to be an important step in this direction: “It was the project that allowed for our affiliation with the Desis Network”.
The project was developed based on the same principle that was followed by the other affiliated design schools (or that were in the process of becoming affiliated) with the DESIS Network: it was developed in an integrated way with activities being undertaken by a student that was developing their Masters dissertation. This allowed the project to start despite the lack of financial support, by using the resources that were available in the university, and collaborating to advance the theory and practice of social innovation at a local level.
With the development of these projects, the possible effects of the design for social innovation practices were observed in the city of Aveiro.
The project “What do we eat” promoted a learning process for the teachers, and the student involved about the possibilities for innovation regarding public administration and it was possible to observe the positive effects of this project. An example of this was when parents were also involved in the educational food process being developed with their children or “when children refused to eat fried potatoes offered in the school canteen”.
The project was considered to be a success by the Municipality and the actors involved; however it did not go any further due to a lack of resources both within the Municipality and from other supporters, and priority was given to other projects.
Therefore, it was observed that “the university had performed a key role in proposing and developing the project, and there was the potential for a promising and innovative environment if the university was able to provide the financial resources. All actors from the Municipality had made themselves available to the project and had actively collaborated”.
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