Design when social enterprises arise, design for sustainable development in Guatemala through social enterprises

Developing countries require flexible models that approach social needs and poverty effectively to achieve wellbeing and sustainability. The emerging models observed lately in social enterprises present emerging forms of social innovation- reformulating the way we approach communities and develop solutions for social needs. In this emerging scene, design could find new opportunities to contribute to sustainable development. For instance, social enterprises face big barriers in tack-ling social and ecological problems, which makes it relevant to understand how social enterprises tackle communities’ needs, and in which ways can designers contribute to their work for sustainable development. This thesis examines how social enterprises are contributing to sustainable development, specifically in Guatemala. In depth, it examines the case of Byoearth, a local social enterprise dealing with the problematic of farming and soil restoration, and highlights how their activities differ from other social initiatives in Guatemala. In order to do so, a literature review provides a theoretical framework in Sustainable Development and Social Needs to define the complexity implied when meeting social needs. Then, the research outlines concepts and criteria of how social enterprises are evolving in the world, and highlights the evolution of the phenomenon in Guatemala. Finally, the approaches of Byoearth in tackling embedded social issues in soil erosion, and farming, are understood and documented through ethnographic methods, providing detailed information of how Byoearth is activating development in vulnerable communities. Selected findings from the study and analysis provide valuable insights of the work performed by social enterprises in Guatemala and the problems faced when dealing with communities’ needs. These problems are transformed into design opportunities to reinforce Byoearth’s social strategy through a design proposal to improve their impact. The design proposal suggests a strategy towards collaboration to enable social enterprises to improve their means and goals, and therefore, work in a multilevel scale to empower communities’ to achieve their own form of wellbeing. Designers use design skills to enable new ways of understanding among social actors in order to solve complex problems, foresee their strategies, and visualize simple paths of action. The sustainable patterns of social enterprises identified in this study are compiled as a guideline for activist designers developing solutions in Guatemala, suggesting a path of collaboration with social enterprises when dealing with societal and ecological challenges