In 1978 I attended the ICSID 1 Interdesign in a convent just north of Mexico City. It was a stimulating gathering of industrial designers from all over the world who formed groups to resolve socio / ecological design problems current in Mexico .
My group resolved several problems :
A very low cost greenhouse for agricultural workers which was ecologically sustainable, recycling everything, heating the house and providing all its food,
A solar drier of coffee beans which made the process independent of the weather and much quicker processing,
A very low cost wind powered water pump for agricultural purposes.
All our drawings were retained by the organisers for potential use but nothing further was heard from the organisers.
Maxine and Ben came with me to Mexico and toured around for the two weeks I was engaged with the Interdesign.
It was fascinating working with like-minded designers, using English and Spanish mainly.
ICSID = International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, of which the Design Institute of Australia is a corporate member