*This response is a part of our SOCAP12 Spotlight Blog Series in which participants answer the question, “Why does meaning manner?”

My name is Chelina Odbert and in 2006, five classmates at Harvard Design School and I, founded Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI). KDI partners with communities living in poverty to develop and implement design solutions that improve physical, economic, and social quality of life. We call these low-cost, high-impact built environments, Productive Public Spaces. Today, KDI is an innovative international partnership specializing in the practices of architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, and urban planning in degraded environments. KDI believes that participatory planning and design are key to sustainable development. Working collaboratively with communities from conception through implementation KDI builds on their ideas, enhances them with technical knowledge and design innovation, and connects them to extant resources. In doing so, KDI empowers communities to advocate for themselves and address the major challenges they face. This is the “meaning” behind our work, and the principles that set us apart from others in our field. Many groups can build toilets, schools, and parks - but the simple act of building is not enough to guarantee impact. The “why”, “how”, and “with whom” one builds these structures - in essence, the “meaning” - are what will ultimately determine the range of impact, thus it is in the “meaning” that KDI focuses our innovation.