Productive chains of peace

Abstract

This project was developed by ASOMENORES, a social foundation which aims the resocialisation of criminal Juvenile Offenders’ Law in Bolivar Department in Colombia, in association with the Industrial Design Programme from Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota, and other stakeholders from the Bolivar region. The main goal of this project was to contribute in social and economic reinsertion of young offenders within society by developing labour and social skills, and, therefore, helping them to improve their livelihood and life quality. The strategy consisted in a participatory design and implementation of the project named "Popular Design, Productive Chains and Peace Building" in the municipalities of Cartagena and Turbaco (Bolivar, Colombia). The project envisioned not only teaching to these minors inmates how to build handcrafts, but also included the construction of sustainable productive chains providing great value to their artisanal work. These NEOCraftstrategy (handicrafts renovation movement) included the handmade products transcendence, its environmental responsibility, the use of natural materials and waste management. Therefore, the fundamental value of the craftsmanship lies on its cultural and ancestral tradition that gives uniqueness to the product, separating it from the mass and global consumption of branded products. For ASOMENORES, and for this specific project, the social rehabilitation and reinsertion into society depends on various factors: one of them is the psychological rehabilitation provided by the penitentiary; another factor, the intervention was originated by this project through the construction of productive chains. The strategy was focused on determining skills’ assessment of each participant. From that starting point, the result was the development of individual, technical and competitive advantages. These advantages emphasised over their culture, traditions and perspectives, where was planned to create and innovate with systemic awareness, inclusive and participative added value. It is expecting once the participants are resealed, they will be prepare, with proper tools, to be part of different companies as employees or create their own business. In this way, there is a high probability of decreasing their chances for these young guys to commit an offence again. The innovation of this project lies on the fact that different aspects such as the legal and social components are being intervened from the Design’s Perspective, aimed to achieve institutional changes where all the stakeholders will be benefited from the project, starting with young inmates and their families, and those involved in the training process such as psychologists, teachers and penitentiary guardians, and foremost, the Industrial Design students who managed and experience the development of an educational process from a sustainable productive standpoint.