ABSTRACT
Culture, lifestyles, resources and conditions offered by complex realities not only create challenges but also ignite opportunities for a meaningful dialogue between facilitators and marginalised youth that enable empathy, learning and empowerment. We propose a dialogue model that has helped to identify opportunities to motivate and potentially empower youth to be/become involved in service innovation and local dialogue with stakeholders. Through a case study, we demonstrate how we apply this model while working with indigenous San youth in vocational training or higher education courses in Windhoek, Namibia. By taking into account the complexities, tools are adapted, developed and introduced for enhancing dialogue. Reflections are made on both the outcomes and the ways that designers restructure their roles as facilitators to enable peer-to-peer exchanges and ongoing dialogues with youth and potentially catalyse a transformative process in unlocking situated knowledge, developing the skills and capacities of the youth who are part of the fabric of change.
