The School of Architecture and Design (SoA+D), KMUTT and Fu-Jen Catholic University (Taiwan) joined hands in field surveys related to Taiwan-Thailand Collaborative Community Design project (a community engagement project). This provided the students an opportunity to present their research projects and designs which turned out to be beneficial in creating alternatives to improve the quality of life of community members.
Asst. Prof. Nanthana Boonla-or, lecturer in Industrial Design program and project leader, led a team of researchers from SoA+D’s Social and Cultural Innovation Lab along with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zongying Zhou, Director of Graduate Program in Social Enterprise at Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan. They visited the community in Bor Wee village, Suan Phueng District, Ratchaburi province (in the western part of Thailand) on January 17 – 20, 2019 to discuss with community representatives about the details and working process of the project.
Among those who joined the field surveys were students taking IND257(considering a special topic on community design), IND322 (Design and society) and IND310 (Collaborative design studio) as part of their social service learning, and researchers/staff of KMUTT (Ratchaburi campus). The various community groups (in Bor Wee Village) were also represented by school teachers, community leaders, women of the village and community members, comprising of Karen people (ethnic group) and Thais (Most of them are farmers and craftsmen). At the meeting, they discussed the social innovation design project to enhance the quality of life for Ban Bor Wee community. They also presented the research projects and academic services to the community enterprises to obtain sustainable operation by the community itself, and to help them improve their quality of life.