Jan 27–28, 2020 Goa, IN
Social
Problems
are
Design
Problems
HARVESTING DESIGN IDEAS FOR POSITIVE CHANGE
Kokum hosted a Social Design Festival (aSDF2020) in Goa from February 17-21, 2020. This comprised of three-day workshops leading to a two-day seminar. It evoked a response through a journey of empathy, allowing participants to take home realisations and design ideas that can make a difference.
The seven workshops were under the following verticals:
#1 Design + Environment
#2 Design + Institutes of Learning
#3 Design + Cities
#4 Design + Products for Waste Recovery
#5 Design + Learning Space
#6 Design + Craft
#7 Design + Resilience
Below is a summary that highlights the big ideas that emerged from the rich and varied results of this experience.
AUDIENCE AND DEMOGRAPHICS

150
people were engaged
during the course of five
days of aSDF.
99%
of the participants were
from outside Goa.
90%
were satisfied
or very satisfied
with aSDF 2020.
80%
were interested in
further engagement.
70%
plan to
attend the next aSDF.
CONFERENCE
The conference was all about celebrating people’s passionate journeys, highlighting successes and encouraging connections between similar perspectives. It demonstrated the many ways design has been used to address social and environmental issues, mostly in India.
Speakers described their challenges and opportunities, serving as an inspiration to many.
This conference worked broadly within three themes:
#1 Environment and Governance
#2 Craft and Economy
#3 Media and Communication
It resulted in a meeting of minds, collaborations, Q&As, and a palpable sense of positivity at the end of each day.
2020 SCREENINGS
Shifting Sands by Sonia Filinto explores the traditional fishing community in Calangute, a village in north Goa. As the tourism industry takes over the seashore and the life of its inhabitants, the film gives voice to the men and women involved in fishing activities - how they perceive themselves, their trade and the constantly shifting life around them.
‘Saxtticho Koddo: The Granary of Salcete’ by Vince Costa dives deep into Curtorim's agrarian roots in an effort to go beyond rice as a staple, and explore how it is interwoven so intricately into the Goan identity. In a bid to be all-encompassing, it inspects the various socio-economic and environmental dynamics, that now affect contemporary farming in Goa today.
Dances of Goa by Nalini Elvino de Sousa served to highlight various dance forms specific to Goa some of which are likely to become extinct. This documentary was selected for the IFFTAC (International Festival of Films on Tribal, Art & Culture in Bhopal, later in the Bulgarian film festival “In the Palace” received the audience award and was recently selected for the Heritage Film Festival in Gujarat.
Caazu by Ronak Kamat and Ashley Fernandes is an insight into the lives of local feni and urrack (cashew liquor) distillers from remote villages of Goa.
Gali by Shabani Hassanwalia, delves into a world of hip-hop in Delhi, a community that role-plays participation, as well as, dissent, against a mainstream that continues to exclude them. The documentary catches them in their search for space, as their choice of expression unites them with those fighting invisibility, throughout the world. *Official Selection 14th IAWRT Asian Women's Film Festival 2018 , *Urban Lens Film Festival 2017 *RAI Film Fest 2019, UK.