Inland team: Mariana
What have you been doing before?
I have worked in urban planning, cultural heritage and global health projects always under a participatory framework. My partners varied from project to project but the setting is always multi and trans cultural and disciplinary. I have worked in collaboration with different communities such as vulnerable groups of immigrants, professionals in cultural heritage organizations, global health experts and rural communities in development countries.
Why did you come to Migri?
During the last six years I have worked in relation to migration in urban planning and the cultural heritage sector by understanding audiovisual remix practices. My role was about making sense of immigrants practices in order to translate them into design visions and concepts. Being myself an immigrant makes me empathic towards integration challenges and genuine committed towards improving immigrants well-being in Finland.
For me working in the public sector is the possibility to design for inclusion taking in consideration that the outcomes of my work will have impact on a diverse group of people.
How do you want to work in Inland?
I am a designer and a researcher working in service and interaction design. The way I work is by co-designing together with end users and stakeholders.
So, in Inland I hope we can work together with people and invite them to take part in every stage of the design process. It is important for me to be able to have transparent practices and promote openness not only in the final design but also in the processes. In the public sector, it is possible to work in a transparent way and with an open mindset.
In addition, I like to work in groups that have horizontal practices and people can decide on the meaningful issues with autonomy. This is a challenge when we are working in the public sector, but I hope we find our way around in order to be able to influence the processes and strategic decisions that we believe are key for improving well being of immigrants.
How do you envision Inland in the future?
As a key player in Migri Inland starts constantly new initiatives that support and improve services. Inland could be key in the development of new initiatives across public agencies in Finland. Also, in a global context inland is eager to be a easy approachable partner that could be contacted to develop high end technology services and products that could have a social impact. The aim is that in the future we are internally well-known because of the positive evaluation of the projects we have been working in. We are active in many design networks such as the european immigration network and the designers working in the public sector.
What do you do when you’re not working in Inland?
I am with my family and friends chatting, cooking and eating together, reading (I read a lot to my kids) and kayaking. I love to go to the theater and follow closely the modern dance scene.
