How can communities play a greater role in designing humanitarian solutions? From 12 to 14 November 2026, MIT D-Lab, the Center on Forced Displacement at Boston University, the MIT Urban Risk Lab and Japanese Red Cross Disaster Management Research Institute will bring together researchers, practitioners, designers, humanitarian organisations and people directly affected by crises in Cambridge to explore this question.
As crises become more frequent, intense and interconnected, and the gap between humanitarian needs and available resources continues to widen; designing innovations that respond to the realities and contexts of affected communities is more essential than ever. The forum takes place against this backdrop and reflects the growing emphasis on the participation of affected populations in the design of humanitarian responses.
The Forum on Community Engagement and Participatory Design in Humanitarian Innovation and Disaster Response will take place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge MA, United States. The aim is to explore how participatory design and community engagement can strengthen humanitarian response, disaster preparedness and risk reduction.
Rather than following the model of a traditional academic conference, the forum is designed as a space for exchange between researchers, students, practitioners, designers, humanitarian organisations and people with lived experience of crisis-related displacement. Participants will share experiences, research and projects, while exploring approaches to strengthen community participation in the design of solutions that affect them.
The organizers also aim to foster new collaborations and contribute to building a lasting community of practice and thought leadership around these approaches. The conversation therefore goes beyond the two days of the forum and seeks to answer the question: how can methods, experiences and lessons be shared more widely to strengthen the role of communities in designing humanitarian innovation?
An event to watch!
