Paradoxically – however – a majority of social scientists also self-exclude from engaging with the forms of material, aesthetic, and technological design that they critique, and fail to offer alternative and actionable modes of political engagement that are preferable. [...] In doing so, HUD will propose what it terms a Materially-grounded, Aesthetically-Resonant, and Participatory-Ethos to Socio-ecologically-embedded design (MAPS) that aims to inject a deep understanding of sociality and politics into debates on the role of design and technology in humanitarian action. [...] The second main goal of HUD is thus to pilot its MAPS approach through the co-design and (technical) prototyping of three material-aesthetic interventions targeted at three spaces of humanitarian action – prisons, (refugee) camps, and (aid) compounds – and three common forms of violence that occur in each space (violence-in-detention, gender-based violence, and violence against aid workers). [...] HUD’s scientific ethos is founded on the contention that making is thinking and that the academic disciplines and professional practices it draws upon will expand the scope of both their capacity to engage with the world on practical terms and to analyze and understand its dynamics through acts of co-design. [...] This is reflected in HUD’s core team which combines social scientists, designers, development engineers and practitioners based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, the haute école d'art et de design, Genève (HEAD), the University of Copenhagen, the école polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Terre des.
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