ABSTRACT
Because it is an intensely creative discipline, Design has undergone constant transformations, which expand its traditional skills to enhance social innovation processes. In this context, the designer develops enabling solutions, products-services to effect cooperation between individuals or communities to achieve results from existing capabilities or developing new skills. Among the possible means that Design can contribute in this sense are projects driven by social cooperatives, which need to solve complex problems creatively, efficiently, and using few resources. From this perspective, this article reveals the process in codesign carried out with a Cooperative that aimed to develop a program to assist in the social reintegration of crime agents in prison, who, upon leaving the prison, face several barriers, such as homelessness, few work experiences, social discrimination, among others. To this end, an enabling solution was developed through action research to support prisoners in the transition phase of returning to society. The research was implemented within a prison located in Sintra (Portugal) and obtained twelve prisoners’ voluntary participation. As a result of the research, the proposal of an enabling solution is well evaluated by the prisoners, and the verification of how Design can work in codesign with social cooperatives and facilitate social innovation processes.
