Design Without Borders:
Ideologies, Realities, and Results
1 Truls Ramberg and Leif Steven
Verdu-Isachsen, eds., Design Without
Borders: Creating Change (Oslo:
Norsk Form, 2012).
2 Linn Carin Dirdal, “Ukas intervju:
Anjali Bhatnagar,” Nytt fra Norsk form
[Week’s Interview: Anjali Bhatnagar,
News from the Norwegian Form], www.
norskform.no (accessed April 14, 2014).
3 The Economics of International Aid,
www.artscornell.edu/poverty/kanbur/
handbookaid.pdf (accessed March 2012).
4 Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Bur-
den,” McClure’s Magazine, no. 1 (1899).
doi: 10.1162/DESI_a_00423
Astrid Skjerven
Introduction
The Norwegian project organization, Design Without Borders
(DWB), was founded in 2001 to improve living conditions in the so-
called Third World. It was initiated by the architect Peter Buten-
schøn in cooperation with the designer Peter Opsvik, as one of the
activities of Norsk Form (The Norwegian Center for Architecture
and Design). It came into being as a consequence of their concern
over the increasing gap between the First and Third Worlds, com-
bined with the conviction that the designer profession had a spe-
cial competence to work against this gap.1 Except for a generous
private foundation grant, DWB has been financed by national state
funded development aid. Hence, the projects and their results have
been conducted within an ideological frame of reference and have
been minimally dependent on business enterprises. As probably
the longest operating organization of its kind, DWB has managed
to carry out many concrete projects, and its history is therefore of
special interest.
Although a child of the design community, with its strong
ideological traditions and its aim to improve human living condi-
tions, DWB’s operations and financial condition have always been
in the sphere of development aid. This fact has directed its work
both ideologically and practically, and thereby also the results. In
a world where humanitarian aid is in desperate and increasing
demand, the organization’s history and future are of broad societal
relevance, particularly given its recent transformation into an inde-
pendent foundation, with new leadership and locations. 2 The
results of its ideas and work constitute a valuable learning oppor-
tunity for this kind of work in the future.
The idea of development aid goes back to the era of colonial-
ism,3 which implies taking possession of other people’s territories
while also implying a sense of duty to take care of and improve the
living conditions of these people. Western civilization was con-
ceived by its leaders to be superior in the world and to have a cor-
responding altruistic responsibility toward the rest. An explicit
manifest of this ambiguous attitude is the 1899 poem, “The White
Man’s Burden,” by British poet Rudyard Kipling.4 The poem is an
appeal to accept what Kipling sees as the moral duty to take care of
© 2017 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017 17

5 William Easterley, The White Man’s
Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid
the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So
Little Good (New York: Penguin, 2006).
6 Oscar Salemink, Amanta Kumar Giri,
and Anton van Harskamp, ed., The
Development of Religion, The Religion
of Development (Delft: Eburon, 2004).
7 Charles Taylor, Modern Social Imageries
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2004).
8 Norad and Fredskorpset, Exchanging
Design: The Design Without
Borders Model (Oslo: Norad and
Fredskorpset, 2013).
18
the people exploited and oppressed by the colonizers. In our times
a general sense of shame and guilt over the effects of this concep-
tion has rightfully been established.5 The view has been strength-
ened by non-Western research.6 Despite this shame, reminiscences
of colonialism continue to play an inherent and subconscious role
in contemporary undertakings, particularly in development aid.
The old colonialist conception of “The White Man’s Burden”
is still present, even if covertly, as part of the social imaginary—
that is, of the historic conceptions that direct our attitudes and
behavior.7 In this contemporary, somewhat more humble and dem-
ocratic version, and as a minor element counterbalanced by contra-
dictive views expressed in today’s development aid, accepting this
burden might have positive effects.
In recent decades, the altruistic side effects of the practice of
colonialism have received little attention—effects such as aid to
suffering people, environmental improvement, and cultural cross
fertilization. Although the relationship of the exploitation and the
benevolence is complex and the two are thoroughly intertwined,
the positive elements should not be completely neglected; they are
relevant in the current era of global interdependence. The work of
DWB is taking place in this realm of ethical tension, which consti-
tutes one of its major challenges.
Through design competence, the organization’s ambition is
to contribute to better, sustainable living conditions in communi-
ties that are facing crisis or extreme poverty. Until late 2013, when
its work had been subject to an evaluation process, 8 and it was
turned toward that of a foundation, DWB had been fully funded
by the Norwegian state through contributions from Norsk Form,
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad),
and Fredskorpset (FK Norway, the Peace Corps of Norway). Dur-
ing its first 10 years, it carried out 23 projects in various African
countries and Guatemala and administered 21 internships in Nor-
way for designers from these countries.
This investigation consists of an analysis of DWB’s ideologi-
cal background and its achievements against the backdrop of its
origin in the ideas of developmental aid. Two of the projects have
been used as case studies and as a basis for a comparative analysis
to reveal the effects and identify possible improvements.
Ideological Background
DWB is a non-profit organization based on social concern and
ethical viewpoints, so that its ideological framework constitutes
the basis of its work. Three different sources inspire the ideas
behind DWB. The first is the ideology of the design community,
which has its own history and constitutes the basic normative
framework. The second is development aid, and its ideas and tra-
ditions. The third is the late-twentieth century’s general concerns
DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017

9 Paul Greenhalgh, Fair World: A History
of World Fairs and Expositions, from
London to Shanghai, 1851–2010
(Winterbourne, UK: Papadakis, 2011).
10 Jarle Simensen, ed., Norsk Misjon
og Afrikanske Samfunn [Norwegian
Missionary Work and African Societies]
(Trondheim: Tapir, 1984).
11 Victor Papanek, Design for the Real
World (London: Penguin, 1972).
about over-consumption in the West in contrast to the poverty of
the Third World. In various ways, all three relate to aspects of the
ideas of colonialism.
In terms of the design community, Norsk Form’s raison
d’etre is to promote the beneficial effects of professional design.
Historically, it is founded on the design ideology of the Modern
Movement—a Western conception stemming from the industrial
revolution, when serial production of objects was made possible on
a large scale. Its aim was to improve ordinary people’s lives by
designing affordable, practical objects with aesthetic qualities. Its
crucial founding event was The Great Exhibition in London in
1851, which was initiated by the sovereigns of the leading colonial
power of the world, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.9 It displayed
the very latest innovations of Western civilization’s goods, along
with what was conceived as primitive but interesting objects from
the colonies. The ideology of the movement made a deep impres-
sion on the Norwegian design community and led to the founda-
tion of the Oslo Museum of Applied Art (now part of The National
Museum of Art, Architecture and Design) in 1876 and the Society
of Applied Art in 1918, which was the forerunner for Norsk Form.
Development aid constitutes a collection of well-estab-
lished activities representing considerable financial investments.
It has a long history, going back to the era of colonialism. Even
Norway contributed to these activities, although it did not have
any colonies of its own. Colonization often took place in connec-
tion with Christian missionary commissions, which often also
were involved in official and business engagements.10 The contem-
porary conception of development aid resulted primarily from the
Cold War during the post-World War II era. The term emerged in
order to define countries that remained non-aligned with neither
the Western nor the Eastern Block and mostly included countries
having colonial pasts with the two superpowers—the United
States and the Soviet Republic. The increasing gap between the
first world’s affluence and the poverty of the third world made the
undertakings of development aid more focused on these problems.
In addition, the imperialistic side of the conception and the
empires’ previous activities led to a terminological change toward
“international aid.” Some of the actions undertaken in the name of
international or development aid tried to include an element of
mutual cooperation, but not always with success.
In the field of design, the Austrian-American designer
Victor Papanek was one of the most influential personalities. His
provocative book, Design for the Real World, originally published in
Sweden in 1970 and in English in 1972, was highly appreciated
among the new generation of designers and had a significant effect
on the designer community.11 Papanek had particular influence in
the Scandinavian countries, where he was a frequent visitor. He
DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017 19

12 Victor Papanek, “Design in Developing
Countries: A Summing Up,” Design
Studies 4 no.1 (1986), 44–50.
13 Åse Karin Haugeto and Sarah Alice
Knutslien, eds., Design Without Borders:
Experiences from Incorporating Industrial
Design into Projects for Development Aid
and Humanitarian Aid (Oslo: Norsk Form,
2004).
14 Victor Margolin, “Design for Develop-
ment: Towards a History,” Design Issues
28, no. 2 (Spring 2007): 112–13.
20
wanted to make low-tech solutions that could be produced locally
out of cheap, reused materials and that could solve what Papanek
saw as basic problems in daily life. As a pioneer of design in devel-
opment aid, he had several commissions for the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and
the World Health Organization (WHO), but little information
exists about their actual production.12 His feeling of guilt, pity, and
responsibility for the previous colonized areas and their poverty
reflects the ideas expressed in Kipling’s poem. Despite Papanek’s
opposition to colonialism, he still represented a historic link to it.
This conglomeration of historic events and conceptions con-
stitutes the basis for the social imaginary of design for develop-
ment aid, as understood by DWB. The imaginary constitutes the
frame of understanding and the departing point for its profes-
sional actions. During its first ten years of existence, the program
has gathered an experience that constitutes a potential for further
development and improvement of the work in this field.
Initiation and Development
By the turn of the twenty-first century, Butenschøn put forward
the paradoxical situation by which the West overflowed with
highly skilled designing and production of objects, which were
more or less useful, but it had become less able to deliver basic
requirements for human needs and dignity.13 He thereby placed
the problem directly into the societal discourse and environmental
discussion of the 1980s and 1990s and into the criticism put for-
ward by Papanek, his colleague, friend, and international coopera-
tor. Peter Opsvik, also one of Papanek’s admirers, characterized
him as a role model and a main source of inspiration for the estab-
lishment of DWB. The first principles for the use of design in
development aid were formulated in the Ahmedabad Declaration
of Industrial Design and Development of 1979, but they had a cer-
tain bias toward high-tech solutions that belonged to the Western
world. Papanek stood for a braver, more community-oriented
view.14 This perspective was embraced and followed by DWB.
Butenschøn was Norsk Form’s Director from 1993 to 2002.
He was concerned about the increasing affluence in the industrial-
ized world and its negative environmental consequences. In addi-
tion, he worried about the growing economic disparities between
the so-called first and third worlds. In the field of industrial
design, he saw a growing tendency to create non-necessary gad-
gets at the cost of the creation of practical and problem-solving
solutions. His viewpoints were strengthened by his work as Presi-
dent of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design
(ICSID). Since the 1970s, the organization had been focused on
communication and cooperation with third world countries. He
DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017

15 Peter Butenschøn, e-mail message to
author, February 4, 2014.
16 www.thecardiffgroup.org.uk (accessed
May 15, 2014).
17 Peter Opsvik, undated manuscript, 2012.
(Peter Opsvik’s private archive.)
18 Ibid.
19 Arne Olav Øyhus, “Bistand går ut på
Dato,” [Outdated Development Aid]
Aftenposten (January 5, 2013): 4–5.
was also engaged in the Barcelona-based organization, Design for
the World, which existed from 1998 to 2005.15 Like similar enter-
prises, it had a short life because of a lack of funding. Only a few
U.S. enterprises supported by large private foundations and aca-
demic interest groups with no practical projects, like the Cardiff
Group in the United Kingdom, escaped similar fates.16
In addition to the financial support by FK Norway, the ini-
tial funding for DWB was provided by furniture designer Peter
Opsvik. Like several others in the design community, he shared
Butenschøn’s views. He was also an active contributor to the for-
mulation of its aims and program.17 The main financial sources for
DWB soon became the Norwegian development aid organizations,
Norad and FK Norway.
During its first two years of existence, the organization was
organized as a cooperative project between Norsk Form and Peter
Opsvik AS. Its aim was formulated by Butenschøn and Opsvik: It
was “to make use of the industrial designer’s creative and analyti-
cal process to develop products and/or systems that might contrib-
ute to improve life conditions for people with difficult life
situations in development countries in an environmentally
friendly way.”18
An important role model for DWB was the organization,
Doctors Without Borders, the Norwegian branch of which was
founded in 1996. In contrast to Doctors Without Borders, which has
chosen to work independently and therefore to accept only non-
official donations, DWB soon became almost completely funded by
the Norwegian government. As a result, its activities were subordi-
nated to the current official policy of development aid: to work for
poverty reduction and human rights, as well as sustainability and
a positive global development, while making use of Norwegian
competence.
In recent years Norad has been criticized for negligence of
its weak results and for lack of adaptation to national traditions.19 It
also has been criticized for being too humble with and compliant
toward local authorities, reflecting the continuing feeling of guilt
in relationships with these countries. FK Norway manages its own
and supports external projects that involve an interchange of com-
petence. Its own projects had mostly consisted of transferring
Western competence, and not receiving or embracing that of the
target countries, although more recently it has put increasing
emphasis on mutual exchange and human cooperation.
Practical Work
The organization’s undertakings reflect its ideological framework
and the dilemmas dating back to colonial times. A minor part of
the projects has consisted of internships for designers to stimulate
DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017 21

20 Einar Stoltenberg, interview with the
Astrid Skjerven, December 16, 2012.
21 Peter J. Marcotuillo and Gordon
McGranahan, eds., Scaling Urban
Environmental Challenges: From Local
to Global and Back (London: Routledge,
2006).
22
interchanges of competence. In this way designers from DWB’s
cooperating countries have been able to work at design studios
and universities in Norway. However, they have been regarded
and organized more as a learning process for the actual intern
rather than as an interchange of skills and working methods. No
Norwegian designers have undertaken internships in the
other countries. This oversight implies that Norwegian design
competence has been regarded as superior and more relevant
than non-Western design. However, on further inspection, the
Norwegian employers and colleagues who have hosted foreign
interns note they have experienced great learning outcomes from
the experience of hosting interns, particularly in the field of cultur-
al understanding.20
The development projects have constituted the main part
of DWB’s undertakings. They have aimed primarily at solving
basic practical problems. Three phases of development of the proj-
ects become apparent: The first concerned situations of immediate
crisis, like the development of emergency shelters. The second and
most significant phase involved problem solving for environmen-
tal improvement and practical needs. During the third phase, in
the past decade, the tendency has been to allow for a more market-
oriented approach to development aid. Commercial issues have
traditionally been regarded with suspicion in development aid due
to their non-ideological aims, although they have overtly played a
significant role in this connection. This suspicion also influenced
the ideas behind DWB, expressed in the design ideology of the
Papanek generation. Consequently, this latest phase in the devel-
opment of DWB is contributing to an important revision of the
scope and meaning of development aid and an adaptation to the
prevailing global market economy. The evolution constitutes an
invitation to strengthen the competencies and the economy of the
countries that receive aid, thereby encouraging them to become
competitors on the global scene. In this phase, DWB also is more
open to cooperation with business enterprises, in accordance with
the newly updated policy of Norad.
All of DWB’s undertakings have focused on creating
environmental sustainability in the physical sense, according to
the traditional “green” conception of the term in the West. The
non-Western, and more humanly oriented, “brown” understand-
ing of sustainability is emerging, but it remains to be taken equally
into account.21 The undertakings reflect Western designers’ views
of problem definition and the remedies for solving them. The user
interface has been given great consideration, although not always
by involving the users in the definition of the problems and the
possibilities for solving them. Attempts have also been made to
engage in participatory design, which includes the user in the
whole development process, but cultural barriers have presented
difficulties in the engagement.
DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017
 In addition to gradual revisions resulting from the growing
work experience, the projects also show great individual varia-
tions. In efforts to detect success factors and identify future paths,
carrying out a comparative study of two widely different projects
has proven fruitful. Both the projects examined in the following
section belong to the second and most significant phase of the
development of DWB—that of problem solving—but they also con-
tain germs of a new phase and point at future solutions.

Urinal for Slum Residents in Kampala, Uganda

The project was carried out in 2009–2010 and was based on an idea
by product designer Sarah Keller.22 During her bachelor studies,
she had become tired of her own and many fellow students’ ambi-
tions to design high-end brand objects. She wanted to make prod-
ucts that could fulfill basic, practical needs. 23 By Norsk Form’s
Design Brief program, she was able to visit slum areas in Kampala
in Uganda. Her conclusion was that one of the most urgent prob-
lems was the unsanitary conditions, and that they could effectively
be improved by developing a toilet that was easily at hand, ecolog-
ical, prevented contamination, and secured ecological use of the
waste. The idea was developed into a project administered by
Norsk Form and supported by Norad and FK Norway. The proj-
ect’s formal cooperating partners were the local factory Crestank
Ltd. and Makerere University. Its aim was to develop an ecological
sanitation system for slum dwellers in Kampala, and to contribute
to local business development. In this way the project was a fore-
runner for the later business-oriented third phase.
The solution was based on the designer’s extensive and
empathic observation of life in the slum. It was followed by inter-
views with selected inhabitants. Because of the sensitivity of the
topic, the interviews were conducted by a local research assistant.
The results from the interviews were essential, not only for the
design process, but also for the users to feel included in the
changes taking place in their lives. They included questions deal-
ing with habits and how the problem currently was addressed,
but not about what they would like as a future solution. The coop-
eration with Crestank, the local company, was hampered by its
financial problems, as well as by the designer’s being a white
woman with low status in the local business world. The coopera-
tion with Makerere University was limited to practical and techni-
cal assistance.
According to Keller’s investigation, the problem was the
lack of a sewage system and private toilets. The few official toilets
were expensive to use and often were sites of assaults on female
visitors. The proposed solution was a small, portable, light-weight
22 Toaletter i Slummen [Toilets in the Slum]
(Oslo: Norsk Form, 2012).
23 Sarah Keller, interview with the Astrid
Skjerven, December 28, 2012.

DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017 23

Figure 1 urinal made of disposed materials (see Figure 1), and was based
Unisex urinal in Kamala, Uganda. Design on the residents’ own attempts to solve the problem by using buck-
Sarah Keller. ets with plastic bags. The urinal could easily be placed even in very
modest homes. The main features of the designed product were its
cheap, reused materials and simple manufacturing, an affordable
sales price, and reuse of the contents as fertilizer. To secure a con-
tinuous production and use of the product, the plan was founded
on a business model and on the users’ own purchase of the prod-
uct. The waste was to be sold to other enterprises to be developed
into fertilizers. The Norwegian design studio, SuSan Design, has
bought all rights to the design and has developed the product.
They believe that it has a marked potential in several countries
with similar problems, and the plan is to manufacture it in South
Africa and sell it in African countries, as well as in India.
Keller’s solution was based on a “soft” Western intervention.
The product was well adapted to local culture. A successful imple-
mentation and long-term use of it depends on changes of cultural
habits that might seem small but that have been deeply rooted in
local traditions. In particular, the project demonstrates the difficul-
ties stemming from the attitude to females in the non-Western
world. For instance, purchasers of a family’s products were men,
who might not be sufficiently interested in solving the problem.
Since the designer finished the project, she has settled down
in Uganda and set up her own design studio. She has started to
make small appliances, such as cell phone cases made of local

24 DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017


24 Nichole Georgeou, Neoliberalism, Devel-
opment, and Aid Volunteering (London:
Routledge, 2012).
25 Sykkelveier og Busstasjoner [Bicycle
Paths and BusStations] (Oslo: Norsk
Form, 2012).
26 Cathal O’Meara, Cycle Planning:
Network Plan for Bicycle Routes in
Guatemala City: Final Report (Oslo:
Norsk Form, 2010).
reused materials. The designer’s ambition is to reach local consum-
ers, as well as the tourist and the export market. The commitment
demonstrates her close relation to the country. Her experience with
development aid has made her aware of its potential effect of mak-
ing people passive recipients, which she finds can be prevented by
executing projects as business enterprises. She also has observed
many aid workers’ selfish motivations for their engagement, which
corresponds to research findings.24 In her own work she tries to
activate the competence and working capacity of the local citizens.
Network Plan for Bicycle Routes in Guatemala City, 2009–2010
This second project constituted the second part of DWB’s com-
mission for Guatemala City’s public transportation plan and was
carried out in 2007–2009. It came about at the request of the Munic-
ipality of Guatemala.25 The funding was provided by Norsk Form,
Norad FK, and UNESCO. The Department of Urban Mobility in the
Municipality of Guatemala and the Industrial Design Department
at Universidad Rafael Landivar were the official cooperating part-
ners. The undertaking constituted a part of an international devel-
opment plan of making energy-saving transport systems for cities
in Latin American countries. The project was mainly funded by
the United Nations Global Environment Fund. The project’s suc-
cess had been particularly great in Columbia, where the cycling
constituted a significant part of the transportation infrastructure
and had proven to be very cost effective.
As part of a foreign enterprise and administered by the
local authorities, the project had a political significance but a
vague foundation in the local culture and preferences of the citi-
zens. The Guatemalan society is characterized by a deep cleft
between the upper and middle classes of European origin and
the poor and indigenous lower classes. What the two groups had
in common was the sense that environmental friendly transport
was not a significant issue. The citizens who could afford to use
cars preferred to do so. The rest of the population had to depend
on buses, and a few used bicycles, but what they really wanted
was to use cars or motor bikes. The local traditions of bicycle use
consisted of low-income tradesmen’s transporting their merchan-
dise this way, although they recently had been joined by an
increasing number of educated urban and modern sports cyclists.
Most of the cyclists were men. The officials of the municipality
consisted of middle class people who owned private cars. This sit-
uation constituted a great challenge for the designer in carrying
out the project.26
The designer and leader of the project was Cathal O’Meara,
an experienced industrial designer and urban planner. His attitude
was that of the professional, Western-educated, environmental and
user-oriented designer with no personal engagement. The solution
DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017 25
 he came up with was based primarily on his own professional
judgments and extensive research. According to the designer, it
constituted a very different and therefore radical development of
existing plan sketches based on the requirements given by the
municipality. In the work process he tried to incorporate extensive
participatory planning. However, a culture of mutual hostility
existed between the local workers and the municipality. The work-
ers did not trust the motives of the municipality. They were not
used to being asked questions and were suspicious of the motives.
As a result, these people representing the potential users were
underrepresented in the studies. Meanwhile, modern urban cyclist
groups that existed, some of whom staged protest cycling events,
were of great help, as were other Latin American and international
cycling societies.
The designer’s cooperation with the municipality went
smoothly, but it was marked by the fact that the officials belonged
to the higher strata of the population originating from the previ-
ous European conquerors. They therefore did not represent the
indigenous people and lower classes. The role of the Universidad
Landivar constituents was limited to providing information and
making contact with the local cycling societies and planners in
other Latin American cities; they were not asked to provide profes-
sional design expertise.27
The building of the network is still in progress. Its use has
been enhanced by the provision of rental bikes and a parking lot
for bicycles. An important success factor has been its positive polit-
ical effect: Its model in Columbia had created both local and inter-
national approval, so that the Mayor of the city of Guatemala took
interest in using bicycling events as a political promotion. This
move improved the status and political significance of the project.
Today the designer lives in Ireland, his country of origin,
where he works as a consultant for regional urban develop-
ment projects. The fact underlines his professional rather than
personal relation to the work in Guatemala. His experience with
development aid revealed that it often is met by local cultural
contradictions related to power and, therefore, has a political
dimension that a designer has little influence on due to his status
as a professional.
The project has succeeded in improving the climate. It also
has contributed to more efficient transportation for the citizens.
This fact constitutes an improvement of human well-being but
still is counteracted by the desire for private cars. This attitude of
Western consumerism and the inherent conception of indigenous
people being subordinate to the white part of the population con-
stitute major mental obstacles. The fact that few bicyclists are

27 Cathal O’Meara, e-mail communication

with the author, January 9, 2013 and
January 21, 2013.

26 DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017

Figure 2
Comparison between The Kampala and
Guatemala City projects.
women also contributes to a limited use of the system. To secure
optimal use of the bicycle paths, these attitudes, habits, and condi-
tions of power have to be changed in the form of a higher estima-
tion of local culture, improvement of knowledge, and reduction of
class distinctions.
Comparison
The projects both had success in various ways and were driven by
different success factors (see Figure 2). The major driving force of
the urinal project in Uganda was both the personal and the profes-
sional engagement of the designer. It was carried out with great
empathy toward the potential users, and the solution was based on
their own way of solving their problem, although with radical
alterations. It was a product of intimate character implying social
and personal habits. The main users were women and children,
while the heads of the families and the decision makers were
men—a fact that constituted a challenge in the marketing process.
As a female herself, the designer achieved a close relationship to
the primary users, although her sex and gender also led to difficul-
ties in being taken seriously as a professional authority. The solu-
tion did not require changes in the infrastructure (e.g., creating a
sewage system), and it required no close relation to the official
authorities. As a result, developing the product in an independent
way was easier, but the project also had no foundation in govern-
mental or political spheres and thus was limited in the public view.
DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017 27
 The outcome of the enterprise is a product that is well fit for
local use and adapted to the users’ habits. It also has great market
potential in other countries. The product fulfills the requirements
of environmental and cultural sustainability. The main obstacles
are the low status and its lack of relation to the financial decision
makers, and to officials and other authorities.
The bicycle path project in Guatemala comprises elements
that in many ways are opposite to those in Uganda. The male
designer was an experienced specialist in the field who was hired
for the job. The project constituted a part of a large international
scheme of infrastructure administered by the local authorities and
had evoked interest by the political authorities. Future funding
was secured by the aid organizations. It affected social and per-
sonal habits, but not of an intimate kind, and it would be used pri-
marily by men. Because Guatemalans have no significant cycling
tradition, the solution required a change of attitudes and habits to
be extensively used. As a modern Western citizen, the designer felt
particularly responsible for the less empowered portion of the pop-
ulation, women included. But he could do little about the fact that
few of the women used bikes. As a male foreign expert, he gained
authority from users, the municipality, and other partners. His
intention of involving the users in the design process was ham-
pered by the class and economic distinctions and the racial differ-
ences among the citizens, as well as their common preference for
Western motor vehicles. The project originates in Western indus-
trial technology’s disturbance of the ecological system, imported
through colonial rule. In trying to improve the situation, the social
consequences of Western industry had hit back like a boomerang.
In its physical sense the plan’s outcome is of obvious importance
for sustainable development, but the effect depends on the actual
use of bicycles, which requires a corresponding cultural adapta-
tion to achieve sustainability, knowledge about the consequences
of pollution, and changes in attitudes and habits among regular
citizens, as well as politicians.

Conclusion
Although carried out under different social conditions, the two
projects reveal the same success factors: adaptation to local
culture, use of local traditions and creativity, and foundation in
local power structures. As the two cases have demonstrated, these
factors might be hard to achieve, given local attitudes and social
differences. They constitute factors that are difficult for outsider
professionals to influence. Such undertakings also clearly have a
political dimension that has to be recognized at a higher level.
Western-initiated undertakings can contribute practical, pragmatic

28 DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017

perspectives that can shed different light on the situation and can
introduce alternative ideas that might stimulate innovation and
change within the communities themselves.
One success factor often neglected in discussions about the
undertakings of DWB is its funding. Working under the political
and financial umbrella of Norwegian and international develop-
ment aid, it has been able to secure funding for its projects, making
possible a stable work situation and the building of competence in
this particular field. Meanwhile, its funding also has constituted a
certain limitation in its freedom to choose approaches.
The projects of DWB have proved that Western initiative
and competence can boost sustainable development, seen both
from a local and a global point of view. It might contribute to the
resilience and well-being of people, and even to improvement of
democracy and equality. The designer profession’s vision of
improving people’s lives, the engagement in user satisfaction and
environmental issues­—all based on continuous innovation—make
design an exceptionally effective tool. It has great potential when
used in a proper way. Carrying out such enterprises requires
involvement and initiatives in non-Western societies—in other
words, in what used to be called development aid. In an updated
version, seeing the enterprises as being of mutual benefit and rele-
vant to global economic competition, they might lead to improve-
ment in human living conditions in all parts of the world. To do so,
this evolved development aid must constitute a mutual learning
and development process.

Astrid Skjerven is professor in the Department of Product Design at Oslo

and Akershus University College.

DesignIssues: Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2017 29