PHASE 1: DESIGN SPRINTS — RESEARCHING + IDEATING

The design of this operation is the result of an extensive human-centered design process that began in May 2018. Refugee voices led the formulation process through an initial design sprint in Bekaa, Lebanon. The participating refugees mapped out their problems, needs, and concerns.  They identified relevant stakeholders, interviewed community members in nearby refugee camps, and documented their challenges.

Halfway through, we all sat down for an iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast together. Afterwards, participants made sense of their experiences by generating insights, themes, and defining opportunity areas for potential solutions.

All of their insights became the basis of a subsequent design sprint held in NYC at the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)’s offices with a collection of NYC’s most innovative minds in farming, urban agriculture, architecture, and agricultural engineering. Our aim was to adapt their expertise to come up with relevant solutions centered around refugees’ vocalized needs. Through this design process, we have assembled an all-star team of partners and advisors.

PHASE 2: BLUEPRINTING — SYNTHESIZING + CONCEPTUALIZING

After coming up with preliminary solutions, we were assessing their feasibility with local experts and stakeholders through rapid feedback sessions. We expanded our team to include more local partners who informed & built out design with us. We scouted for lands in the Bekaa and conducted soil testing. Finally, we refined all of our research and insights into the underlying philosophy of our project and developed a blueprint for our hybrid farm model.

We also undertook a massive systems mapping and research approach that highlighted different economic, social, political, cultural, dietary, technological factors that could influence the success of our project. In doing so, we immersed our farm into the local ecosystem to ensure that it is not an isolated event but can easily be integrated into the local context.

PHASE 3: IMPLEMENTING — REFINING + LAUNCHING

After refining our vision and building our conceptual farm model throughout the blueprinting process, we secured initial funding and started building out our pilot, Turba Farm, in Zahle, Lebanon.

We delineate this journey of going from concept to reality in our report below.