Supporting Innovation in a Context of Uncertainty: The Role of Design and Technology

Abstract

Within the context of Lebanon, certain youth-led and grassroots organizations are fertile spaces of social innovation. Through a participatory action research (PAR) approach and using participatory design (PD) methods, we explore the possibility of creating the conditions for technology-supported social innovation within such a contested context. We present the case of our long-term engagement with “4-all-causes,” a youth-led group that aims to challenge existing hierarchical organizational structures and redefine health service provision in the country. Our observations and participatory workshops led to insights concerning the application of PD in such contested and uncertain spaces. In addition, we discuss the roles that we, as design researchers and digital technologists, can play in creating conditions for social transformation and a new health narrative through the infrastructuring of social innovation.