Designing Water’s Future is aimed at generating exceptionally creative and original design thinking to raise awareness of the emerging global water crisis—and to do so in ways that inspire people to act. Reaching beyond all boundaries, the initiative seeks to reframe how we think about water, how we manage it, how we save it. It will address the design problem of the crisis, redefining the outdated, cultural myths about water that have become obstacles to progress on one of the world’s gravest threats.

The problem

Water is the axis issue that intersects the world’s challenges. From health, poverty and security to climate, energy, immigration and environment—even financial and commodities markets are affected. We’re just beginning to grasp the scope of the challenges and their intersection points. Many solutions exist, yet policy makers and the public must first be aware of the complexities and then be called to act, from implementing water management measures in Las Vegas to bringing safe water to rural Africa.

The water saga is complex and requires a 360-degree, multidimensional design approach that includes powerful, fact-based, relevant narratives, accessible information and coordinated channels for action.

Globally, the United Nations estimates that two-thirds of the world’s population will live in areas of water stress within the next 20 years, and that five million people—mostly children—die each year due to contaminated drinking water.

In the developing world, solutions may mean drilling wells for children in a Ghanaian village or applying new or traditional filtering technologies for families in Bangladesh. In the developed world, drought, climate, pollution, agricultural misuse and failing infrastructures beleaguer even the most advanced civilizations.

Background

The INDEX: | AIGA Aspen Design Challenge grew out of discussions held during the January 2007 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. At the World Economic Forum, a select group of global thought leaders noted:

• The global water crisis presents a communications design challenge of urgent immensity.
• Current public understanding about the use and management of water (especially in developed countries) is narrowly defined by outmoded experiences and assumptions.
• Powerful, fact-based narratives are needed to engage and inform diverse, international audiences of varying demographics and geographies.
• The water crisis needs a visual identity, a mantra, new mythologies and stories carried by innovative vehicles to inform and inspire audiences that may be separated by demographics, education and immediate need.
• We currently lack the full scope of raw field data and the presentation tools needed to make it understandable and actionable for policy makers and solutions.
• The crisis may be complex in its global implications, but the solutions are “local, local, local.”