CADA Foundation

CADA Foundation evolved from the research work of Carmen Malvar. The project utilizes design and craft for examining possibilities for greater local living economies through identity, interdependence, and worker collectives in Oaxaca, Mexico, and Camariñas, Spain.

CADA intends to create a model for design strategies, production and distribution, from an environmental, social, and economic point of view, as based on a methodology of dialogue with different communities in regard to their practices and history of artisanal expressions and artifacts. The goal is to foster and facilitate, for the local artisans and their greater ecosystems of supply inputs, beneficial participation within the local and global economy, without the loss of identity, while also working to strengthen their own communities.

Forward Mapworks works with CADA conducting ethnographic fieldwork in order to better understand the context and behaviors of local ecosystems. Forward Mapworks also works with the CADA leadership team, mapping and analyzing theories of change, and designing programs for collective organization, strategic partners coalition building, and engagement strategies.

Areas

Ethnography, Organization Strategy, Ecosystem Mapping