Given the complexity of global poverty and climate change, much of technical education has focused on practitioners as changemakers, seeking to inspire individuals to tackle the world’s most complex and pressing problems. However, in practice, the desire for practitioners to see themselves as changemakers often eclipses the autonomy of local communities, while claiming to be working for their empowerment, especially in international interventions. Inspired by works by Robert Chambers and Paulo Freire, Emily Lawson-Bulten and Jess Mingee propose a new mindset that shifts the focus from the practitioner as the changemaker to the practitioner as a facilitator or consultant who affirms the agency and capabilities of the community. In this talk, they illustrate the impact of this mindset shift in practice through the analysis of two engineering case studies, in Zambia and Honduras, both of which follow non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seeking to make long-lasting change with community members.
Speakers:
Jess Mingee is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Contextual Engineering in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Jess holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Sustainability, Energy, and Environment. For their dissertation, Jess investigates an Italian entrepreneurial organization on a climate change adaptation project in rural Zambia to formulate constructive insights for improving community agency and project longevity in community-based engineering projects. Jess aims to encourage organizations to take an active role in challenging historical power dynamics when identifying and designing sustainable energy solutions.
Emily Lawson-Bulten is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Contextual Engineering through the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Emily received her B.S.E in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Calvin University with a minor in International Development Studies. Her dissertation work looks at the interpersonal power dynamics in international infrastructure projects, with a focus on implementing participatory methods to affirm community agency. In her research, she identifies ways organizations and engineers can integrate community perspectives into technical decision making, specifically in water systems.
