Focus - Design & crisis

FOCUS
Design crisis

How are local governments, metropolitan areas and cities in particular, mobilizing in the face of crises? How can design contribute to the answers to be provided? What are the innovative and successful initiatives resulting from the action of cities and metropolitan areas in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences? These questions constitute the starting point of the second Focus of the WDC NETWORK OF CITIES MEETING 2020 Edition.

Faced with an unprecedented crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, local governments, of metropoles and cities in particular, are on the front line to support public health services and economic actors but also to protect and educate citizens.

Its impact on the safety and well-being of communities and the economy has forced organisations in every sector to adapt and change in real time while continuing to pursue the usual ambitions and transformation strategies into the long term.

The role of designers in the public and private sectors with regard to our transformation and growth processes seems especially crucial in times of crisis. Design allows collective action and local authorities to have a broader and more effective impact.

Whether creating useful products or tailoring public and private services, design brings a human-centred approach to solutions that meet constantly evolving needs and, given the current crisis, in extremely urgent situations.

Today, the whole world is focusing on finding solutions to the unprecedented challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Whether searching for immediate solutions to the need to curb the virus’ transmission or helping communities to rebuild their lives after the pandemic in the short or long term, the wide range of skills designers have – conducting research, coming up with ideas, building and testing prototypes and formulating persuasive messages – contribute to this collective effort to protect the public and save public and private services.