My students, my colleague Lindsay Norris and I worked on an interesting project in fall 2018. We started by agreeing on some basic definitions:

Definition of colonization: the action of appropriating a place, mind, culture, identity or domain for one’s own use

Definition of appropriation: the action of taking something for one’s use, typically without the owner’s permission

• With this view colonization and appropriation can take many different forms. We decided to focus in two groups that have been silenced systematically by the structures of power standing today, and through some methodologies open our understanding at the different ways of perceiving the world, these groups were indigenous / non-western and women.
• We invited 14 guest speakers from 7 different countries, 12 of them female, 8 from a non-western origin and two First Nation members.
• Students captured the speakers input and following a design research methodology they "distilled" the information and identified and propose "Design Principles" that could be followed in other to design product, services or systems following these "ways of knowing".

Are external indigenous groups or Nations involved?  If so, which Nations?

Yes - members of the Kwantlen and Kwakiutl First Nation.

Are students involved?

Yes - students are involved - the entire 2^nd year of Product Design.

Is the activity/event/project funded?  If so, what is the funding source?

No – the project is not funded.

Timeline:

Fall 2018, from September to December.

Other: 

The students "identified" from the speakers and input several guidelines for designing our world through "Other ways of knowing" using Indigenous Design Principles

Design Principles:

• Create system where everyone's opinion is captured
• Ensure privacy of interviewees
• Learn to put biases and judgments aside
• Involve everyone by asking them/ talking to them
• Information should be accessible by everyone
• Branch out to experience new things
• Branch out to form well-rounded conclusions
• Consider the effects and the aftermath
• Consider holistic application
• Design things that create positive experiences for the user and others affected
• Understand context, expectation and application
• Investigate the intended experience
• Gain insights from everyone involved
• Educational designs should allow for open exploration
• Design to ensure everyone’s basic needs are being met
• Be open-minded without fearing the unknown
• Design for cultural inclusiveness
• Take time to make good decisions
• Recognize the validity of non-Western design
• Embrace seasonality and nomadism in design
• Design spaces with empathy in mind
• Celebrate differences
• Emphasize rehabilitation over punishment
• Recognize the power of language
• Design to empower all peoples
• Incorporate nature in design
• Utilize sustainable materials
• Use natural resources in moderation
• Respect the autonomy environmental bodies (trees, rivers, mountains)
• Recognize Indigenous knowledge as current knowledge
• Recognize the impacts of colonization
• Design to protect our planet
• Teach all sides of a story
• Develop curriculum without bias
• Educate the world
• Recognize biases

Design Principles: Women’s Ways of Knowing

• Include women in opportunities for growth
• Use privilege to advocate for others
• Acknowledge sex work as work
• Design to make users feel seen, understood, and cared for
• Create new knowledge (instead of working off of pre-existing knowledge)
• Acknowledge that women are important consumers 
• Include overall context in your designs
• Share your experience with others to decolonize
• Listen to understand - not to reply
• Know the user you are designing for
• Consider the emotionality of design
• Recognize that gender disparity is present
• Leave your comfort zone to encourage change
• Prioritize meaning over cost
• Treat others as you would like to be treated
• Consider social value before form
• Knowing the world around you shows your passion
• Ensure that voices from all perspectives are heard so that people can create better quality design
• Build safe environments where women can gather together to share stories and make meaningful connections
• Create a culture (or space) that embraces being emotional to build authentic relationships and connections
• Focus on supporting others rather than competing with them
• Connect young girls with strong female role models
• Bridge the gap between work life and family life
• Help others build self-confidence to speak up and fight for what is important
• Ensure power lies with the marginalized and the end user, not the designer
• Bring awareness to our own biases during the design process
• Empower users by involving them in the design process
• Use your creativity and functionality to of help others to understand women's ways of knowing
• Be inclusive by reaching out to people from different communities to gain knowledge
• Value your experiences and share the way they shape you
• Challenge something hard that you’ve been dealing with to see from another view point
• Take off the blinders of unconscious bias (broaden the narrow view of what a leader looks and acts like)
• Create equitable opportunities for all peoples
• Promote and recognize achievements of others