Reframing the brief: Design approaches and practices for Community Care models
Workshop

As the emphasis shifts towards preventative medicine and social prescriptions for our ageing society, community-based care ecosystems become critical to alleviating the reliance on tertiary care services for ageing-in-place. How can we observe and converse with elders in the community spaces to understand their needs for a good life where support comes from the weak ties that we form among neighbours? As a care advocate who designs to nudge social policies through anthropological approaches and strategic design methods, Wendy will share her team's work for clients in the social care sector, such as the Lien Foundation, Rainbow Center, Drama Box, and Arts Wok Collaborative.

Presenter: Wendy Chua
Bio
Based in Singapore and Berlin, Wendy Chua is an interdisciplinary design researcher, curator and educator. Her practice Forest & Whale, co-founded with Gustavo Maggio, envisages design as an agent of change to create an impact in social and environmental care. They design products, services and museum experiences that redefine the way we live, from homeware objects and furniture systems to new models of care in ageing societies. With accolades like the prestigious P*DA award and the 2023 EU S+T+ARTS residency, their work has been exhibited in the Milan Triennale Museum and the Museum of Craft and Design of San Francisco, among others. Wendy is currently hanging out with elders in local coffeeshops, as part of Hack Kopitiam, to hack community spaces through community asset mapping, advocating practices of care. As a design anthropologist, swimming between the fields of marine science, environmental humanities and design, Wendy is also designing the conditions for interdisciplinary, art-science climate inquiry through Sensing Blooms Lab to make sense of coastal threats and harmful algal blooms.