CA 2023 Workshop 2 - Design
Beirut, Lebanon
02 - 08 August 2023
Apply by 31 May 2023
Join us in August 2023 for an exciting design workshop with our award winning charity! Together we will be exploring gender inequalities and how they manifest in the built environment. We will be visiting different communities and contexts across Lebanon where CatalyticAction has implemented projects and developed strong relationships with local communities: Beirut, Central Bekaa and El Mina (Tripoli).
Workshop Activities
The CatalyticAction 2023 Design Workshop will focus on the theme of gender inequalities and how they manifest in the built environment. Together we will reflect on this topic and aim to develop possible spatial solutions that can be implemented in public spaces.
Lebanon is a context of deep and structural gender inequalities, with one of the highest overall gender gaps in the world, ranking 119 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap report 2022. In many Arab communities, urban space is by default, male space.
Through design as a medium, we will seek to reflect on gender inequalities within the built environment, and in particular in public spaces – a very relevant topic in the current international debate.
The workshop’s field activities will be happening in the format of site visits to give you the opportunity to experience different contexts of Lebanon; from the charming neighbourhood of Mar Mikhael in Beirut, to the vibrant sea promenade in the city of El Mina in North Lebanon, to the busy towns within agricultural plains of the Bekaa valley.
The workshop’s desktop activities will be an opportunity to work closely with our team on co-designing interventions that are context specific. These will be conducted in the community centre that we rehabilitated in the neighbourhood of Karantina in response to the 2020 Beirut port explosion. The design workshop aims to contribute to advancing spatial justice in the neighbourhood through public space interventions. We will start our investigation from a series of on-site visits where participants will focus on the analysis of existing urban challenges and define possible design solutions to overcome them. Participants will learn how co-designing public spaces has the potential to promote inclusion and equality. Participants will also get the chance to work with residents from different ages, genders and backgrounds, to ensure that their design solutions are rooted in community participation.
During this workshop you will be working alongside professionals and local community members. You will also be visiting many of CatalyticAction’s projects, experiencing firsthand the positive impact of co-designed built interventions.
Previous Participants Testimonials
Fee
The workshop participation fee is 520 GBP.
Your participation in this workshop will support CatalyticAction’s ongoing activities in Lebanon, hence contributing to empower vulnerable children, youth and their communities.
The Fee Includes
- Learning co-design skills, such as:
- Tools and methodologies to co-design with local communities
- Translate collective ideas into design solutions
- Maximise the project’s impact through co-design
- Workshop-related transports in Lebanon: tour in Beirut, from Beirut to Bekaa (return), from Beirut to El Mina (return).
- Shared accommodation (from 02/08 to 09/08).
- Information and advice on travelling to/in Lebanon.
- A comprehensive information pack including useful information about Lebanon, its people and culture, some useful tips and workshop details and schedule.
- In country support.
- Refreshments.
- A certificate of completion.
- CatalyticAction tote bag.
- Contribution to CatalyticAction’s work in Lebanon.
- And lasting memories!
The Fee Does Not Include
- Flight costs and airport pickup.
- Health insurance.
- Visa. The participants are responsible to obtain any visa they might require. If proof of workshop registration is required, let us know.
- Transport from accommodation to meeting point.
Application Deadline
The deadline to receive applications is Wednesday 31 May 2023. Apply as soon as possible to reserve your spot – space is limited!
CatalyticAction 2023 design workshop is open to all students and professionals aged 18 + with an interest in design.
How To Apply?
To apply, please fill out the online application form below.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at: workshop@catalyticaction.org.
We are looking forward to receiving your application and to welcoming you to Lebanon soon!
Disclaimer: Please note that once the applicant has paid the participation fee and wishes to withdraw for any reason after the payment deadline, CatalyticAction reserves the right not to refund the fee. Only if the project is cancelled, all participants will be refunded.
Application Form
Visit our crowdfunding page to help us work with teenage girls to promote gender equality in vulnerable neighbourhoods of Lebanon, one public space at a time!
Preliminary Schedule
- Wednesday 02/08 - Participants’ arrival in Beirut and welcome meeting.
- Thursday 03/08 - Welcoming participants in Karantina community centre. Workshop introduction and open discussion on the workshop topic. CatalyticAction's projects tour in Beirut.
- Friday 04/08 - CatalyticAction's projects tour in the Bekaa Valley (Bar Elias and neighbouring towns).
- Saturday 05/08 - CatalyticAction's projects tour in El Mina, Tripoli.
- Sunday 06/08 - Karantina neighbourhood tour and meeting with the local community. Desktop design activities.
- Monday 07/08 - Desktop design activities (continued) and final presentation.
- Tuesday 08/08 - Concluding community activity with the Karantina residents.
