ADVANCING THE LIVELIHOODS AND WELL-BEING OF VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES THROUGH HUMANITARIAN ENGINEERING
The Humanitarian Engineering Research Group is part of the Department of Design, Production and Management (DPM) at the University of Twente. Through research, education, and collaboration, we seek to advance the field of humanitarian engineering and contribute to improved livelihoods and well-being in vulnerable and underserved contexts worldwide. By bringing together diverse perspectives through collaboration with practitioners, social entrepreneurs, communities, and other stakeholders, we address complex humanitarian challenges through research and education organised around three interconnected and transdisciplinary domains:
- Humanitarian Engineering Design: Appropriate and sustainable technological interventions for short- and long-term scenarios, including operation and maintenance, manufacturing, and restitution.
- Design for Social Justice and Equity: Sustainable community design, stakeholder engagement, technology acceptance, responsible contextual, cultural, and social considerations, systems thinking, equity and inclusion, and capability enhancement.
- Educational Design for Vulnerable Communities: Community-based education, service-based education, challenge-based learning with communities, and curriculum development.