Category Archives: development & design

Cycle Commerce As An Ecosystem

By John Thackara | Published: May 24, 2013

(Illustration: Sameer Kulavoor Ghoda Bicycle Project) At a workshop in Delhi a few weeks back, during the UnBox Festival, Arjun Mehta and myself posed the following question to a group of 20 professionals from diverse backgrounds: What new products, services or ingredients are needed to help a cycle commerce ecosystem flourish in India’s cities, towns and [...]

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A Roof, A Skill, A Market: The Multiple Dimensions of Scale

By John Thackara | Published: April 29, 2013

[ Photograph: http://www.arquiteturadeterra.com ] “Beware the scale trap”.  In a recent Letter To Philanthropists Parker Mitchell,  a former CEO of Engineers Without Borders in Canada, advises potential donors that “scale is important, but don’t rush it. Most good ideas take time – to iron out the details, to bring down the costs, to be tested in different environments”. [...]

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An Open Design School for India

By John Thackara | Published: January 29, 2013

(Image from http://openwear.org/) In recent months a working party in India, chaired by Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovation, has been developing the plan for a nationwide network of 20 Design Innovation Centres, an Open Design School, and a National Design Innovation Network. The latest public version of the plan is here: Download pdf    During this process, I was invited by Abhimanyu [...]

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Why Bill Gates Needs To Listen To More Gamelan Music

By John Thackara | Published: July 14, 2012

Ritual as Feedback in Bali  The unique social and ecological nature of regional watersheds was the focus of a mesmerising presentation by Stephen Lansing at last month’s poptech conference in Iceland. His key point: Bali’s subak water management system is a “coupled social-ecological system”. Balinese farmers have been growing rice in terraces since at least the eleventh century. [...]

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It’s (Still) Not Just The Bags

By John Thackara | Published: May 13, 2012

[I'm re-publishing this story to celebrate the fact that I just got to Sao Paulo, met Adelia Borges, and discovered that the first print-run of her book has sold out in just a couple of months. Adelia explained that one of the organisations doing great work here in Brazil, in support the development of indigenous [...]

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Beyond Good Intentions – The Movie

By John Thackara | Published: April 5, 2012

Humanitarian crises caused by civil wars or natural disasters, such as in Haiti, often trigger a wave of support from us, the public. But our support raises two difficult questions: first, do our generous donations actually have the desired effect – or any positive effect? and second, what kind of evidence is available to ensure [...]

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How To Be Good: Rules of Engagement for Design and Development

By John Thackara | Published: February 5, 2012

A recurring problem is the term “design for social impact” – when the desired impact is on someone else’s turf, not on the designer’s own.

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Compost Candidates

By John Thackara | Published: October 19, 2011

Something special is happening in France. A nationwide campaign will be launched next week by the Colibris movement for the 2012 Presidential Elections – but without a charismatic leader. The campaign, instead, is for everyone to be a candidate – for a new kind of politics. In their language and tone-of-voice Les Colibris are like [...]

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