In 2014, a trio of Italian researchers undertook a holistic investigation of the small town of Fadiouth, Senegal, to devise agricultural and structural improvements that can be applied to any similar rural settlement. With help from the Polytechnic University of Turin, head researcher Carola Dermarchi, Fatima Mudoni and Arianna Agostini authored the Systemic Approach to the Fadiouth Community in Senegal.
The book (which can be viewed on ISSUU) is a comprehensive Italian manual of theories tailored to install 21st-century solutions for the town’s under-developed infrastructure. It became clear to the researchers that garbage and drainage removal was a critical problem for Fadiouth. The compilation addresses this with intuitive infographics that show how the town’s water management should be improved as well as recycling methods that can be practiced in the context of a remote, rural town.
Apart from offering visual illustrations of how to enhance living facilities for Fadiouth, the book also stresses the importance of raising consciousness and thoughtfulness in the citizens in order to work towards a collective sense of wellbeing. In order to uplift a society, emotional health must be considered in addition to the physical problems and positive, altruistic thinking among the people is a major benefit.
According to the authors of the research project, “The whole project considers the centralization of man and the socio-cultural respect of the community’s traditions. It generates a mental change in order to give the individuals consciousness of their possibilities of improvement for a more sustainable and harmonious living.”
