Community-led Solutions: Assistive Tech in informal settlements

Researchers from the Development Planning Unit at UCL, along with Leonard Cheshire, are working with the GDI Hub to undertake an exciting programme working with communities living in conditions of informality (often referred to as slums) in Freetown, Sierra Leone and Banjarmasin, Indonesia. Working with the Sierra Leone Urban Research Center (SLURC) and Kota Kita, based in Solo city in Java, the research team will be undertaking participatory research with disabled people and community organisation in the settlements to understand how disabled (and non-disabled) people are already working to pursue their aspirations, and whether, and how, AT can help them achieve their goals in the future.

The research will be undertaken by local research teams who will also work to build the capacity of the local community to respond to disability issues. It is our hope that we will be able to uncover grassroots innovation and solutions delivered through everyday practice which enables disabled people and their families to participate.

The second phase of the project will see the research teams linking into the wider AT2030 project to see what interventions could support disabled people in these communities, and what lessons can be learnt in terms of the models for AT delivery being tested and trailed by AT2030.

For more information contact Ignacia Ossul at UCL: Ignacia.ossul@ucl.ac.uk.