December 2022, Design Justice Newsletter

Dear DJN Members, Signatories, and Friends,

Our last newsletter of 2022 wraps up a year of preparing and initiating new opportunities for the Design Justice Network that will now guide growth in 2023. New staff and steering committee members joined the coordination team, new nodes and working group projects were born – and with the latest addition in Swedish, our Network member translations for the DJN Principles now totals 17!

We enter into our next Seasonal Pause with deep gratitude for the energy each signatory and member puts into furthering the Principles of Design Justice and the impact of the Network – 600+ signatories were added in 2022 alone! More participatory processes and restorative care practices will be announced in the coming months – register for January’s Welcome Session for live news and updates about how we’ll start the new year.  

While staff and the steering committee are on break, responses to emails and social media will be limited. We invite you to explore our library of resources, recordings, and Zines during the pause. Read Member Stories for powerful reflections on moments in a designer’s’ practice as they apply Design Justice Principles to their lives and their work.

Wishing you abundance and joy as we enter the new year together!

Your Design Justice Network Staff,
Rene Joy (She/They), Communications Specialist
Taylor Simone (She/Her), Special Projects Manager 
Victoria Barnett (She/Her), International Network Manager, Nodes & WG 

Email: designjusticenetwork@gmail.com
Instagram: @designjusticenetwork 
Twitter: @design__justice (double underscore) 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designjusticenetwork
Web: designjustice.org

Upcoming Events:

Find events happening this month or go to designjustice.org/events for more. We’re working to make our meetings more accessible – requests for accommodations can be sent to designjusticenetwork@gmail.com

*** Seasonal Pause: December 20th through January 9th, 2023 ***

Hosting an event but don’t see it on our website yet? Fill out this form! Translate to your timezone using thetimezoneconverter.com or timeanddate.com.

Node & Working Group Updates

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).

Shape your Node and Working Group Experience Update from Victoria: 

Hey Folks! 

A lot of amazing and important insights have come through this series of events that occurred in November of 2022. The initial report back is available here to read (text-based only); this is being shaped into further categories and areas of support to focus on for 2023. First steps in the new year include releasing an in-depth report with additional visualizations, alongside actionable next steps and timelines.

A sincere thank you to all of those Node and Working Groups members who attended or provided these insights over the last year and through these events. We are really excited to support the Node and Working Group experience becoming stronger and better for all. Highlights of last month’s Shape Your Experience event for Nodes and Working Groups were shared here.

Opportunities

If you know of any upcoming opportunities, please email us or share directly in the Design Justice Network #opportunities Slack channel.

Design Justice Network opportunities

We’re working towards more accessible events, materials and experiences. Guided by the Design Justice Principles, we’re interested in working with accessibility service providers led by and benefiting living experts directly. Do you know any community-based and equitably organized providers that may align with our Network? Send them our way! Submit your entry here or email Taylor:  specialprojects@designjustice.org

We’re developing this resource list to share with members and add to our website’s resource page. If you would like to be credited as a contributor to this database, please email (or include) your name, pronouns, and if you are a current member.

Ongoing Network opportunities:

Member Stories

Quote from this month’s Member Story with Susana Beltrán-Grimm:

“... I can use codesign methods as service design to make it a process between the mothers and the researcher. To make the process playful, holistic, and systemic to create value and meaningful interaction with them. And this question and opportunity for ideas also integrate decolonizing methods. 

For my project, the Latinx mothers were centered as experts of their ways of knowing. The mothers had all these important behavior changes and social cognitive changes throughout the co-design sessions. Mothers moved from telling me “You tell us, Susie, you're the expert,” to stating “Oh, I can do this. I have the knowledge. I can make a math activity, but I can also make an activity, and I am an expert.” 

Through the use of co-design approaches in a facilitated and supportive space, Latinx mothers moved away from feelings of inadequacy to a sense of self-efficacy and confidence.”

Interested in sharing your Design Justice story? Are you inspired by another member’s practice of the Design Justice Principles? Sharing member stories is a powerful part of honoring our community’s history and building a more just and joyous future together.

There are no prerequisites (which means a traditional background in design isn’t necessary!) Past stories have featured members working in a variety of fields such as social work, community organizing, and handicrafts. 

We shape the storytelling process around what works best for you and will only share what/how/where you consent for us to share. As our Network grows globally, we’re particularly interested in elevating stories from new and international members!

Please contact designjusticenetwork@gmail.com to share your story or ask questions!

Other opportunities

  • Support riseup: riseup provides worldwide services to activists, journalists, human rights defenders, and… us! We use riseup to send this newsletter to you! 

  • Recent shares from our Slack and Social Media:

    • Opportunity at Allied Media Projects (DJN’s fiscal sponsor!) as their next Director of Finance.

    • Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) is now accepting applications and calling for nominations for their 2022 Design & Technology intensive.

    • CS Fund is launching a new funding program to advance social and ecological justice. Find more information on the CS Fund Just Transitions Request For Proposals. 

    • Logic School is an online, experimental school for technology workers now accepting applications for their 13-week online training course. 

    • Eyebeam enables creative and critical thinking about technology’s effect on society through various grant-making programs. Please consider supporting them through a donation. 

    • GEIST is gathering a coalition to rethink culture. Join today as a Community Member, Researcher, or Supporter. 

Getting started with DJN

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.

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