Let’s start with our big news: at the end of January we said goodbye to the following social media accounts: Facebook, Instragram and Twitter. Why? In response to recent political and corporate developments by Elon Musk and Meta: their actions, including decisions that compromise user privacy, enable misinformation, and prioritize profits over public well-being, conflict deeply with our values. As an organization committed to fostering inclusive, ethical, and constructive design for a safer world, we believe it is essential to support platforms that align with our mission to create positive change and genuine community connections.
This decision was not made lightly, as we understand the role these platforms have played in helping us engage with our audience. However, we feel a responsibility to act in alignment with our principles, even when it involves difficult choices. Moving forward, we are excited to focus our efforts on building meaningful connections through platforms that better reflect our values and mission, such as our website, this newsletter, and LinkedIn.
We are incredibly grateful for your ongoing support and encourage you to stay connected with us through these channels. As always, we’d love to hear from you! Whether you have something to share, a question, or just want to give us feedback, feel free to hit ‘reply’ or email us at hello@dnem.org. We personally read and respond to all messages!
Thank you for standing with us as we continue to prioritize integrity and community in everything we do.
Best wishes,
Saskia, Claudine, Tingyi, Klaus and Rodrigo
What we’re reading
Originally published in 2017, this book remains as relevant as it was 8 years ago.
Not a Scientist: How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science by Dave Levitan explores how political figures often misuse, misunderstand, or deliberately distort scientific information for their agendas. It discusses various techniques used by politicians, such as cherry-picking data, misinterpreting studies, or conflating correlation with causation, to shape public perception and policy.
Please note that if you purchase the book via the above link you are supporting an independent bookstore, and we earn a small commission. All at no extra cost to you!
2024 Annual Report is online
The 2024 Design for Emergency Management report is now online. You’ll notice that it was a relatively quiet year, but we do have plans to change that this year. In fact, our first grant application has gone out the door, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
This guidebook presents the contents of the first workshop on Design for emergency Management. It is a short and easy read to introduce key ideas, and provides you with easy-to-use tools to incorporate these design concepts into your day-to-day work. It is aimed at emergency managers and anyone interested in the topic. The book covers visual language, iconography, cognition in emergencies, rapid prototyping, evaluation and ethics.
This book provides a more in-depth and academic perspective on Design for Emergency Management. Through a combination of theory, practice, and a range of interdisciplinary case studies, this book expands how we define and think about the critical role and relationship between design and emergencies. This role extends far beyond aesthetics: the book highlights the urgency of ensuring that a wide range of stakeholders and a diverse representation of the public comes together to work towards preventing disasters.
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We aim to make our work as accessible as possible, but we can only do this with your continued support. Thank you!
