Dear DJN Members, Signatories, and Friends,

This past winter we celebrated the launch of the Design Justice Network's Mission and Vision, as well as the Intentions of the Staff and Steering Committee (M/V/I). The energy cultivated from that experience continues to ground us. Cultivating a deeply interconnected network, advancing and embodying the DJN principles in practice, and amplifying experiences of joy throughout the network are our driving forces, as we move into a new season.

This past year we brought on new Steering Committee members Nour Arafat, Boaz Sender, Elena Silvestrini, and Marta Delatte (to learn more about them please click here). Currently, the DJN Steering Committee is an all-volunteer body that sets high-level strategy, determines the overall network structure, approves the budget, maintains information about the DJN’s structure, and reviews and approves new Local Nodes and Working Groups.

On April 29th and May 11th, 2022, we had the most recent DJN SC retreat, including the new SC members and staff. This took place virtually over two sessions. Our goal here is to give you a sense of what happened and share some of our key takeaways and next moves.

Read a full overview of our key takeaways and next moves here.

Last month we announced that the network's staff positions have shifted with Victoria stepping into the role of Node & WG manager and Taylor becoming our Special Projects manager. We have more details for everyone, including our role descriptions and responsibilities. You can find our staff announcement here. Our staff page has also been updated to include our new emails. With this shift comes a heightened sense of momentum. Along with our new roles we are also hiring! We are looking to contract a Communications Specialist starting in October. This opportunity is currently open to members of DJN. If you are a part of our member list, you should have received an email with more information. We have also posted an announcement to the member slack. Last, we are excited to announce that this month a Filipino translation of the principles is now live on our website! We thank all of those that volunteered on these translations and those that have volunteered on past translations. Contributors for this translation includes: Grace Bariso Buenconsejo, Whangarei, New Zealand, Rina Alfonso, Washington, DC, USA, Bea Rodriguez-Fransen, Arizona, USA

DJN Staff & Steering Committee

Email: designjusticenetwork@gmail.com

Instagram: @designjusticenetwork

"“Design was about efficiency, about saving money, time, not really caring about the impact of our work. So, after many internal conflicts, I decided to change paths and started learning about building with natural materials and traditional techniques. Working with these alternative practices, which are more sustainable, felt better, but again I realized that there are still many challenges until design justice is integrated in architectural practice. In the case
of Greece, for example, doing sustainable architecture is exclusively for people who
can afford the high cost of quality materials, slow-building and fair labor.”

- Mina Kouvara

Mina Kouvara is currently a Junior Research Fellow at the Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia, where she is also pursuing a PhD as a core member of the 'Cosmolocalism' research group. Her thesis explores sustainability in the context of an alternative mode of production and technology development based on the commons. She focuses on vernacular, grassroots and non-western perspectives. Mina’s background is in architecture, and she holds a MSc in Environment and Development of Mountain Regions from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. She is a founding and former core member of an NGO which conducts research on traditional building techniques, and the co-creator of the art initiative 'Quokka'. Mina is affiliated with the research collective P2P Lab.

This is an interview with Mina Kouvara, conducted by Lydia Hooper. Here is a link to read Mina’s full story/interview.

Find events happening this month or go to designjustice.org/events for more. If you have ideas on how our events can be more accessible, please send us an email.

All of our current nodes and working groups are listed on our website. If you’re thinking of starting your own, learn more about how to organize a local node and read our local nodes zine that was created to support and give guidance to local nodes. (much of it applies also to Working Groups).

Portland, Oregon DJN Node - Coming Soon!

We’re excited to share that the Design Justice PDX node is launching this September. To receive updates and an invitation to share your hopes and dreams for the node, please email hello@designjusticepdx.com.

- Gaby and Aria, Design Justice PDX Co-organizers

If you know of any upcoming opportunities, please email us or share directly in the Design Justice Network #opportunities Slack channel. Wishing you luck as you look for your next opportunity!

Design Justice Network opportunities

Translate the Design Justice Principles
Join or start a DJN Working group
Join DJN Communications Working Group
Would you be willing to share your experiences with the Design Justice Network? There are no prerequisites (including a traditional design background), and past stories have featured members working in a variety of fields such as social work, community organizing, and handicrafts. We make the process easy for you (no writing involved!) and will only share what/how you consent for us to. We are particularly interested in hearing from members outside of Europe and the North American East Coast. If you have questions or interests, please contact Lydia at designjusticenetwork@gmail.com.

If you’re new to the Design Justice Network, welcome! Here are some resources to help get you started. As we continue to build these resources we welcome your questions and feedback.

Read an overview on how to get involved
Watch one of our Welcome to the Design Justice Network meeting recordings (Nov. 30, 2021 session is now uploaded)
Check out our YouTube channel
Learn how to organize a Local Node
Read about our membership benefits
Receive care in our Design Justice Network Care Circle (a benefit for DJN Members)
Review our finances.
Check out some DJN activities (NEW - these resources are being built)

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