OAXIN Brings Community-Driven Innovation to Life at IDDS Ayuujk 2025 in Oaxaca, Mexico

Centro Oaxaqueño de Innovación (OAXIN), a Global Innovation Gathering Hub Member, is advancing community-driven design in Oaxaca through the International Development Design Summit (IDDS) Ayuujk 2025 in Santa María Tlahuitoltepec. This article outlines OAXIN’s approach, the summit’s scope, the projects under development, and the concrete ways supporters can enable continuity and implementation.

Who is OAXIN?

OAXIN is a civil society organisation based in Oaxaca that provides creative spaces for rural communities in southern Mexico to develop social innovation projects through inclusive practices aligned with local livelihoods. The organisation focuses on strengthening the regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, aligning its programmatic commitments with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

OAXIN employs user-centred design to foster creative capacity, support the development of local technologies, and enhance enterprise capabilities, while also tailoring methodologies to community-specific contexts. Its collaborations span local and international institutions to advance social, environmental, and economic outcomes for rural and Indigenous communities in Mexico.

About IDDS Ayuujk 2025

IDDS Ayuujk 2025 operates as a co-creation summit hosted by OAXIN, engaging with the Mixe indigenous community of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec. The summit, which runs through August 13, convenes local and international participants to work on context-specific design challenges. Activities focus on participatory processes, prototype development, and field testing with community members.

This year’s portfolio features five locally rooted design projects:

• An efficient medicinal plant dehydrator
• A manual corn and squash seed planter
• A mechanical ixtle fibre separator
• A nopal peeling kit
• A manual wool warping loom that operates without electricity

Each project targets practical production or processing needs identified with community partners and is being developed to align with local materials, skills, and maintenance considerations.

The summit culminates in a public Design Fair on August 13 at the central court in Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, and it is open to all residents and visitors. Community members and visitors can engage directly with prototypes, ask questions, and provide feedback. The fair is structured to encourage hands-on exploration, dialogue, and feedback. Visitors are invited to:

• Observe and test prototypes developed during the IDDS Ayuujk 2025 summit
• Ask questions about the design process, materials used, and intended applications
• Share insights and suggestions based on local knowledge and lived experience
• Connect with innovators and facilitators to explore future collaboration or implementation
• Document and share the experience to amplify visibility and support

Participation is informal and inclusive, with no registration required. The fair is designed to foster mutual learning and ensure that community perspectives shape the development and refinement of each technology. The format emphasises interaction with prototypes, iterative feedback, and shared problem framing. This approach aims to facilitate iterative cycles of testing and refinement, grounded in community use cases.

OAXIN’s methodology integrates local and global knowledge by co-defining challenges with community partners and facilitating structured co-creation among participants with diverse expertise. This orientation is consistent with the organisation’s long-term mission to build capabilities, develop context-appropriate technologies, and sustain collaborative networks.

A central objective of this IDDS is continuity beyond the event week. The team aims to ensure that technologies created by 36 innovators receive follow-up support for iteration, field deployment, and knowledge transfer. This includes documenting processes, capturing community feedback, and establishing roles for stewardship after the summit, focusing on strengthening local innovation and entrepreneurship.

Join the Movement

Whether by attending the Design Fair (like GIG members Ta Corrales, from Costa Rica, and Pamela Díaz, from Puerto Rico), donating, or sharing the story of IDDS Ayuujk 2025, your engagement helps sustain and grow this collaborative model—creating technologies for and with communities that last far beyond a single event.

Follow the journey! These channels provide ongoing visibility into prototypes, community collaboration, and next steps:

📷 Instagram – @oaxin_ci
📘 Facebook – OAXIN