Design Thinking Approach for Early Recovery and Resilience Building in Protracted Crisis and Climate Change Affected Communities in MENA region.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is uniquely vulnerable to protracted crises and the adverse effects of climate change. These challenges are compounded by political instability, economic volatility, and social strife, leading to severe disruptions in livelihoods, displacement of populations, and environmental degradation. In such a complex landscape, traditional methods of intervention often fall short. Here, the Design Thinking approach emerges as a powerful tool to foster early recovery and resilience building by enhancing absorption, adaptation, and transformation capacities of affected communities.

Firth it will be helpful to understand what the Design Thinking means especially for the humanitarian and developement sector.

Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and iterative testing. It involves five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. This methodology encourages deep engagement with communities, ensuring solutions are tailored to their unique needs and contexts.

An indepth study reveals the applicability of the different stages of Design Thinking as can be applied to MENA region, of course pulling from my experience in Somalia, Sudan and most recently Syria.

• Empathize: Understanding the Human Experience: The first step in Design Thinking is to gain an empathetic understanding of the problem at hand. For MENA communities, this involves:

Community Engagement: Engaging with local populations to understand their daily struggles, cultural nuances, and specific needs. Many organissations already adopt community led and community participatory approaches like the 3 pronged approach of WFP(Community Based Participatory Planning).

Field Research: Conducting field visits, interviews, and surveys to gather firsthand data about the impacts of crises and climate change. In my roles across Somalia, Sudan, and Syria, I have led extensive field research efforts, working closely with affected communities to understand their unique challenges and needs. most recently in Syria me and my team rolled out some Multi-sectoral needs assessments employing mixed research methods including Key Informants interviews and Focus group discussions to gain meaningful insights to qualitative data and information.

Stakeholder Analysis: Identifying and involving key stakeholders, including local leaders, NGOs, and governmental bodies, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the challenges.

• Define: Articulating the Problem: Based on the insights gained, the next step is to define the problem clearly. This stage involves:

Synthesizing Data: Analyzing the collected data to identify patterns and root causes of vulnerabilities.

Problem Statement: Crafting a clear and concise problem statement that reflects the core issues faced by the community.

Setting Objectives: Establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives for the intervention.

• Ideate: Generating Creative Solutions: With a clear problem statement, the next phase is brainstorming potential solutions. This stage includes:

Collaborative Workshops: Organizing workshops with community members and stakeholders to brainstorm innovative ideas.

Diverse Perspectives: Encouraging participation from a diverse group of people to ensure a wide range of ideas and perspectives. During my tenure in Sudan, I facilitated numerous workshops that brought together diverse stakeholders to co-create solutions tailored to local needs.

Idea Selection: Prioritizing ideas based on feasibility, impact, and community acceptance.

• Prototype: Developing Testable Models. Prototyping(Piloting as refered to in the humanitarian and developement space) involves creating simple, small-scale versions of the proposed solutions to test their viability. This stage involves:

Building Models: Developing prototypes that can be quickly tested and iterated upon.

Community Feedback: Engaging the community to test prototypes and provide feedback. In Syria, for instance, I oversaw the development and testing of prototypes for Emergency Emplooyment Initiatives incorporating valuable community feedback into the final designs.

Iterative Improvement: Continuously refining prototypes based on feedback and testing results.

• Test: Evaluating and Refining Solutions. The final stage is testing the prototypes in real-world settings to evaluate their effectiveness. This involves:

Pilot Programs: Implementing pilot programs to test the solutions on a small scale.

Monitoring and Evaluation: Establishing metrics and indicators to assess the impact and effectiveness of the solutions.

Scaling Successful Models: Expanding successful prototypes to a larger scale, while continuously monitoring and improving them.

The design thinking approach brings us the tarminal goal of most reliefe and recovery programmes and endeavours, which is buiding or enhancing Absorption, Adaptation, and Transformation Capacities (RESILIANCE).

For the purpose of this article i will restrict my reference to the Transformation Capacity: Transformation capacity involves the ability to implement fundamental changes to improve resilience. Design Thinking drives transformation by:

Innovative Approaches: Leveraging innovative and creative approaches to address deep-rooted challenges.

Policy Influence: Engaging with policymakers to integrate successful solutions into broader development strategies.

Empowerment: Empowering communities to take charge of their development trajectory, fostering a sense of ownership and agency.

Mild Case Study: Applying Design Thinking in a MENA Community

To illustrate the impact of Design Thinking, consider a hypothetical case study in a flood-prone area in North Africa. The community has been experiencing frequent flooding, leading to displacement and loss of livelihoods.

Empathize: Field researchers engage with community members to understand the impact of flooding on their lives. They learn that poor drainage systems and lack of early warning systems are major issues. Define: Based on these insights, the problem is defined as "Lack of effective flood management and early warning systems." Ideate: In workshops, community members suggest various solutions, including improved drainage systems, community-based early warning systems, and flood-resistant housing designs. Prototype: Prototypes of an improved drainage system and a community-managed early warning system are developed and tested in a small part of the community. Test: The prototypes are implemented and monitored. Feedback indicates significant improvement in managing flood impacts. The successful elements are scaled up to cover the entire community.

My conclusion..............................

Design Thinking offers a robust framework for addressing the complex challenges faced by communities in the MENA region affected by protracted crises and climate change. By enhancing absorption, adaptation, and transformation capacities, this approach not only addresses immediate needs but also fosters long-term resilience and sustainable development. Through empathy, creativity, and continuous iteration, Design Thinking empowers communities to co-create solutions that are effective, sustainable, and deeply rooted in local contexts.

In my experiences working across Somalia, Sudan, and Syria, I have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of this approach. By placing communities at the heart of the solution development process, we can build resilient systems that not only withstand shocks but also thrive in the face of adversity.

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