S'Proud
Strengthening Communities
Year
2020
Universit
Politecnico di Milano
Project Type
Academic Project
Sproud is a Product-Service System that aims to build psychosocial resilience amidst communities through strengthening relationships and maintaining mindfulness. It encourages its users to start composting organic scraps at home and enables them to co-create commons at a neighborhood scale, by growing vegetables and plants.
This project was done in a group of 5 as a part of a course themed 'Homes of Uncertain Times'. Everyone contributed equally, wherein I specifically focused on Design Research, Product Design and Service detailing
OPPORTUNITY AREA
The starting point
Brief
To design a Product Service-System for an uncertain and unpredictable future, primarily due to climate change.
Target
The state of California in the year 2036
Our take
We focused on the adverse effects of climate change on individuals' wellbeing.
The situation in california (right now and projected)
01
02
1 in 6 people suffer from mental illness
12% of teenagers have depression
03
Number of healthcare professionals are constantly dropping
METHODOLOGY
What process did we follow?
RESEARCH
Understanding the users and future context of California
01
Field Research
Method
Qualitative research- 6 interviews; 5 people living in California with different backgrounds, 1 person who had faced a natural calamity
Goal
To understand how uncertain times like the pandemic as well as climate change in the form of bushfires had affected them (especially their mental health). Their lifestyles, problems, pressures, perceptions, behaviors and coping mechanisms.
Main finding
Social connections and a sense of community are integral for psychosocial wellbeing and resilience.
02
Desk Research
Main findings
01
Climate change brings fear, anger, hopelessness and powerlessness - which results in stress and anxiety and the general feeling of being unhappy and distressed.
02
Building psychosocial resilience within communities helps in coping with and facing climate-related uncertainties and stressors.
03
Improving social connections; communication and working together to solve day-to-day problems may increase community preparedness in the face of unchecked climate change (psychosocial resilience).
How Might We
activate communities and strengthen connections to build their psychosocial resilience towards climate change?
FUTURE SCENARIO
How would California look like in 2036?
THE CONCEPT
What is S'Proud?
S'Proud is a product-service system that enables its users to start composting organic scraps at home by offering S'Proudy, a compost bin. The service further encourages the users to co-create commons at a neighborhood scale, by growing vegetables and plants in neighborhood gardens. These gardens are curated and managed by S’proud (the organization).
SYSTEM ELEMENTS
What does S'Proud consist of?
THE PRODUCT
How does S'Proudy make composting simple?
S'Proudy is a composting kit that makes the process of composting at home easy, flawless and enjoyable.
It is not just another compost bin hidden under the kitchen sink, it is something that you can flaunt in your home. It is easy to carry, does not smell, is 100% biodegradable (made out of pulp paper) and has a charming presence.
Regular composting bins require effort and needs to be kept for at least a month. S'Proud works like a regular wet waste bin but with activators; once filled you simply need to replace it with a fresh one!
SERVICE-SYSTEM DETAIL
How does S'Proud work?
BENEFITS
How does S'Proud increase psychosocial resilience?
The collective action of participating in growing vegetables and plants in the community garden strengthens the community and its resilience. It activates individuals by creating opportunities for physical activity driven by the motivation to have improved nutrition. Studies show that growing and tending to plants significantly helps in reducing stress - catering to better mental well-being and enhanced psychosocial resilience.
COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN
Activating communities
Want to know more? Have any suggestions or feedback?
The group🍷Aperol
Prathana, Simone, Amarinder, Bianca and Valeria