DeCID has recruited six Dissertation Fellows from University College London’s Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU) to support CatalyticAction and DeCID Investigators with research related to the co-design of social infrastructure with children in displacement.

Aisha Aminu, Krista Armstrong, Luke Bostian, Laia Gemma García, Evangeline Nicolaides and Isabel Madrazo de Otaduy all bring diverse experiences and backgrounds in the fields of architecture, urban development, conflict, diversity, among others, and will focus their MSc Dissertation research on topics related to DeCID.

Specifically, they will investigate the impact of choosing local building materials in design-build projects on the health and socio-economic wellbeing of communities affected by displacement; the conditions faced by children displaced in urban contexts and the role of participatory design in addressing these; the potential of participatory grant-making to transform the relationships between donors and the movements and organisations they fund; innovation in building materials, with a special focus on the balance between tradition and innovation, while promoting adaptation to climate change through the use of local materials; and how participatory design projects in displacement contexts across the world deal with diversity.

We are looking forward to sharing their findings with professionals in the fields of development, the built environment and others working on participatory design with children affected by displacement.