During the first couple weeks of the project, we have been working with local sustainability awareness organization, Tena Kebena, outlining our schedule and community engagement strategy for Phase 1 of the project.

Over the next 3 months, the team will be working in two markets, the first is in the Bole district, and the second in Kazanchis. During this time, we will be conducting interviews with vendors, shoppers, researching the surrounding community and initiating prototypes on how to reduce food waste.

Melat and Julia are working side-by-side with Tena Kebena this coming April and early May, while the international team, Nicholas, James and Rafael will be travelling to Addis Ababa for the second half of the May to concentrate on the design-build component of the prototyping

Here’s a breakdown of what the schedule for Phase 1 (April – July 2016)

Schedule – overview

Month 01: – research

• Research: clearer understanding of neighborhood markets: What systems are in place, which potential ideas are approved by the local community,
• User 01 (the vendors) and user 02 (the buyers)
• Questionnaires and Provocatives

Month 02: – prototyping, testing, generate feedback tools

• Prototyping and feedback tool development
• Large community event to get all stakeholders together to discuss and improve prototypes
• Test small business ideas for one day, community event for education, training and new ideas

Month 03:

• Open up to urban scale: define systems that can apply to the entire city