Working with members of the town of Los Limones in the Dominican Republic in a co-design workshop, we will tackle some of the inhabitants’ systemic concerns relating to clean energy, health, animal care, and agriculture.
MIT D-Lab Class
Student team
- Natalie Dean - MIT ‘26 (Department of Mechanical Engineering & Women’s and Gender Studies)
- Sandra Youssef - MIT ‘26 (Department of Mechanical Engineering)
- Gabriel Rodríguez Castillo - MIT ‘25 (Department of Urban Studies and Planning, & Computer Science)
Partner organizations and additional contributors
- The Peregrine Fund: Ridgway’s Hawk Conservation, Marta Curti and Gabriela Diaz
- Libby Hsu, MIT D-Lab (team mentor)
Country
Dominican Republic
Problem
The Ridgway’s Hawk is a critically endangered hawk species endemic to the island of Hispaniola and is threatened as a result of human and Philornis fly activity. To protect the hawk, The Peregrine Fund has been working for over 20 years to implement a conservation initiative that includes population management, research, environmental education, and community engagement programs. The Peregrine Fund works in collaboration with the Dominican government and NGOs such as Fundación Puntacana.
Cultural context
In rural areas, where agriculture contributes a significant portion to community livelihood, members place heavy emphasis on the protection of crops, animals, and the environment. Despite the Ridgway’s Hawk tendency to prey on young chickens and sometimes attack farmers when the boundaries between hawk territory and farmland blur, their conservation is of importance to the community of Los Limones. Conservation and environmentalism has an inherently racial component in the Dominican Republic since a large percentage of farmers and laborers are of Haitian descent. The Dominican Republic is grappling with racial tensions due to increased immigration and mass deportations. Similarly, labor in the Dominican Republic has a gendered aspect as a result of traditional gender roles, abortion legislation, and educational practices.
Theory of change
Co-design is a powerful tool leading to self empowerment and gaining technical skills. Running a co-design workshop in the community will encourage breaking barriers that may exist with race, gender, or skill level and enable all participants to create helpful physical products. A successful workshop will involve all demographics who wish to participate, and accommodate their needs (nursing room, child care, menstrual products, etc.) The desired impact is that the community implements newfound technical skills in solving more local problems. They may use their new solutions for income generation, adapt to new problems, or for community building.
Proposed solution
We will host a co-design workshop focusing on the development of prototype devices relating to one (or more) of four topics of impact to the endangered Ridgway’s Hawk and of interest to local community members. Our co-design topics will include clean energy, health, animal care, and agriculture. The workshop will be held over the course of several days in Los Limones and will be led in partnership with researchers affiliated with The Peregrine Fund across the towns of Los Limones, Los Brazos, and Punta Cana. By conducting a several days long co-design workshop during a research trip to two small, agriculture-focused towns in the Dominican Republic, we will develop a proposal for future iterations of the group to design and implement human and animal well-being focused technologies to benefit the surrounding environment and community.
Next steps
Our main focus is on building a bond with the community, and having a continuing relationship built on mutual trust and respect. We will continue to communicate with the community and cater to their specific needs, while incorporating them with the conservation efforts of the Ridgway’s Hawk. Future collaborations can include brainstorming for animal protection measures, prototyping the ideas generated, and implementing solutions.
Contact
Libby Hsu, Lecturer; MIT D-Lab Associate Director of Academics
