Abstract:

A general perception about architects and designers is that they design buildings, and interiors. However, they are trained to solve diverse societal challenges using their creativity and design thinking skills. In this paper, the author will discuss a unique collaborative model to demonstrate how her design students worked with a retired colonel and the Service Members’ Agricultural Vocational Education (SAVE) Organization to design an agricultural education campus to overcome shortage of farmers in the US and assist wounded warriors and veterans in becoming productive citizens of the society.

The above mentioned project was designed to solve two different challenges to support two very diverse US communities:
1) the agricultural community in the US is facing a shortage of one million farmers due to the retiring farmers, whose’ next generation is not interested in farming,
2) how to assist wounded veterans and stop them from ending their lives.

By the end of 2015, more than 1.5 million Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have returned home. Despite their physiological and psychological injuries, these service men and women want to continue to serve their country and live independent, productive lives. Unfortunately when they do not get timely psychological help, it leads to suicide. Each day 22 veterans take their lives. 61% of these soldiers and veterans come from a farming family or community. 45% of these soldiers are interested in farming.

The author worked with the SAVE leadership and encouraged her graduate design students to employ their design thinking skills to develop an agricultural campus where soldiers can learn farming. After receiving their farm training certificate in two years, they are placed with a farming family for mentoring and transitioning in to agricultural profession. This collaborative model was presented at the finance committee of the US Senate as a means to assist the agricultural community and to boost the economy. Farming is a great therapy for Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and for many other psychological issues the returning wounded warriors and veterans face. It is believed that these alternative therapies help service members in gaining their peace of mind, improves their mental health, and helps in reducing their stress and suicide attempts.

In this paper, the author will present her students’ research and evidence based design (EBD) efforts to assist the agricultural and veteran communities. Final design examples of this project will demonstrate how design thinking can help resolve agricultural challenges in the US; and how designers can become “change agents” in the society and save lives, assist agricultural community, boost the food supply, and the economy. In conclusion, the author will discuss how this innovative and collaborative model can assist in fulfilling the future agricultural production and food supply challenges, and how other economic sectors can benefit from design thinking approach to resolve their challenges facing the global market.

Keywords:

Wounded Veterans, PTSD, Farming, Architecture and Design Education, Collaboration, Service-Learning, Multi-disciplinary Education, Design Thinking, EBD.