Celebrating Refugee Innovation

Shifting from Deficit to Asset-Based Engineering Perspectives

Abstract

Refugee communities exhibit remarkable innovation as a means of survival, yet engineering’s engagement with refugee communities often comes from a deficit-perspective, where we impose our technologies onto their communities. This research seeks to shift perspectives from a deficit-based view to an asset-based approach by highlighting and celebrating these communities' innovations and experiences (Gravel et al., 2021). Specifically, we interviewed student refugees to understand what engineers can learn from refugee innovation. Using qualitative methodology and engaging participants throughout in a co-design process, the data was analysed through qualitative content analysis (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). These interviews offered valuable insights into refugees' daily lives, survival strategies, and engineering innovation. The stories shared illustrate how these existing skills can be cultivated within refugee camps, particularly when development opportunities are provided by organizations such as the UN. These opportunities contribute to the resilience of individuals and help strengthen the communities they are rebuilding. By exploring refugee experiences and innovations, this research promotes a broader perspective on community-driven engineering and asset- based understandings of refugee communities. Future work could be used in engineering classrooms, allowing students to engage with diverse perspectives and create more effective, culturally relevant engineering solutions for the communities they serve.