resources

Supporting our journey in designing for empowerment

the Heroic Journeys framework was co-developed by designers and community organisers to enable active citizen participation in public life. It draws on the archetypal structure of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to help people explore and align their personal values with community development and collective action.

related publications

Santamaria, L. and Kuzmina, K. (Ed.) Design for Empowerment: approaches and tools for social change. Bloomsbury Academic. (Forthcoming 2026).

Santamaria, L. and Kuzmina, K. (2024). Heroic Journeys: on design for empowerment and narratives of social change. DISCERN: International Journal of Design for Social Change, Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 5(2), 103-121. https://DISCERN-J/article/view/182

Santamaria, L., and Kuzmina, K. (2024). Design for Empowerment, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.140

Santamaria, L., and Kuzmina, K. (2021). Service Design Meets Strategic Action: exploring new tools for activating change. ServDes.2020 Tensions, Paradoxes and Plurality, 2-5th February 2021, Melbourne, Australia.

Design for Empowerment is a research programme developed through participatory research and design practice at Loughborough University London and the Royal College of Art, in collaboration with communities, designers and practitioners.