The 12-month project, ProtoPolicyAsia, aim is to increase local community participation in the Malaysian national policy-making process to work together with relevant government agencies on social issues that relate to older persons and persons with disabilities.

It involves the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Malaysia, Petrosains – The Science Discovery Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Lancaster University, Sunway University in Malaysia and United Nations University – International Institute for Global Health in Malaysia.

The project has been funded by the AHRC as part of the GCRF Highlight Notice for International Development:  Follow on Funding for Impact and Engagement Scheme.

The Little Book of Speculative Design for Policy Makers

This Little Book tells, a project outcome, you what Speculative Design is, what the benefits for policy-making are, and how it can be used by policy-makers in Malaysia.

This can be downloaded by clicking Here. Print copies are also available.

The Little Book of Speculative Design for NGOs and Community Groups

This Little Book, a project outcome, presents what Speculative Design is, what are its benefits for NGOs and Community Groups, and how it can be used by these groups in Malaysia, as well as other countries.

This can be downloaded by clicking here. Print copies are also available.

Speculative Design Seminar in Malaysia

ProtoPolicyAsia had a one-day Speculative Design Seminar at Sunway University on 21^st January 2020. The aim was to share Speculative Design as a possible tool for policy-making with ageing as primary focus. Seminar participants included our very own Champions, local government agencies, as well as ASEAN and Nepal representatives involved in policy-making.

Presenting project findings to the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and National Council.

On Friday 13th December the AHRC ProtoPolicyAsia project project team, led by PI Dr Emmanuel Tsekleves (LICA) and the Malaysian Co-PI Dr Ming Yong (Sunway University), were invited to present project findings to civil servants and Ministers at the National Council of Malaysia, chaired by the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister.

The AHRC ProtoPolicyAsia project piloted new ways of engaging and empowering local communities and Government in Malaysia in addressing social issues in ageing and disabilities. It engaged with several ministries in Malaysia, training local champions in the use of design innovation methods on the use of Speculative Design for policy-making.

Speculative design prioritising senior citizen urban transportation

Following an up growing scale within the older adult community to support them in their traveling experience a speculative design was developed to explore some of the challenges senior citizens face in traveling via public transport though the city and to provoke a discussion on this topic. The discussions have highlighted the importance of transport to the older adults’ social identity and self-perceptions of independence. A few points sparked up a theme of finding independence, assurance and self-esteem as an individual while completing their traveling journey. 

The proposed speculative designs were aimed to provide assistance and companionship to ensure confidence in running daily activities as usual with their own capabilities. They also aimed to provide an increased awareness of the society on their empathetic level towards people in public areas. 

The speculative design included the concept of a near future service operating in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia  in2025 the Malaysian High Priority Bus (MHPB), with its Transport Payment and Priority Seating Allocation System (TPAPSAS). Over 60% of the TPASAS seats are dynamic allocated seats to registered senior citizens once they board the bus. If these seats are occupied by non senior citizens (i.e. teenagers, young adults) the seats issue an alarm and activate an airbag system that ejects them from the seat and issues an electronic fine, in order to make the seats available for senior citizens. The speculative design comprises a visual user guide, a terms and conditions poster, a list of twitter feeds of customer reactions to the service and a vox pop video of customer interviews of their experiences of using the service. 

These speculative designs were showcased at five senior citizen community centres in Kuala Lumpur  as well as at two public events at Sunway University for feedback and reaction to these and the concepts they incorporated. Although the former events were focusing on senior citizen reactions and feedback of the speculative design, the latter was targeted at younger people in their early twenties.

The Speculative Designs can be downloaded from here.

Speculative design promoting the challenge people with hearing impairments face in Malaysia with regards to sign languages

You can the Speculative Design here.

Running  Speculative Design “Champions Workshop” and “Co-designing Workshop with Community Members”

ProtoPolicyAsia successfully hosted a two-day “Champions Workshop” on 1-2 July 2019 followed by the “Co-designing Workshop with Community Members” on 3 July 2019 at Sunway University. These workshops were follow-up workshops based on the “Introduction to Speculative Design for Policy-Making Workshop” held in April and May 2019.

17 participants “Champions” from government agencies, and community-based organisations and non-government organisations attended this interactive workshop held in Sunway University. The aim was to train the Champions’ on participatory speculative design, to engage participation, and also to co-design with the facilitators for community members. Champions learnings from Day 1 and 2 will be put to test on Day 3, when the community members were brought in to the workshop.