From classroom to crisis: Applying teaching methods to tackle drowning in Bangladesh.

Abstract

Child drowning is a major issue in Bangladesh, with over 14,000 children dying annually, primarily in rural areas with numerous bodies of water. Seasonal flooding exacerbates the risk, especially for children under five who often lack close adult supervision. The Sonamoni project, funded by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), aims to develop culturally sensitive, sustainable solutions to prevent child drowning. This multidisciplinary initiative is led by Bournemouth University (BU) and the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB), in collaboration with the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE), the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the University of Southampton (UoS), and Design Without Borders, Uganda (DWB). The project included an ideation workshop inspired by the design process curriculum for Level 4 engineering students at the University of Southampton. This workshop engaged drowning prevention practitioners, researchers and designers to generate and evaluate intervention concepts using tools like the “Crazy 8” ideation technique and lean principles. Challenges such as cultural and language barriers and non-formal educational backgrounds were addressed through flexible facilitation methods and iterative testing. Several promising intervention prototypes emerged from the workshop and are being piloted in northern and southern Bangladesh. The project highlights the potential of educational ideation frameworks to tackle real-world public health crises and suggests broader applications for similar global health challenges. Future efforts will focus on refining workshop materials and scaling successful interventions.