Decolonizing the Mind
Why decolonization remains urgent: in what is studied, in what is called knowledge, and in what is considered progress.

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Interviews SurGlobal / UNTOLD.ink
Tags:design
In this episode of The UX Rebels, we speak with Cristian Situ and Elsie Ralston, co-founders of Sur Global, a nonprofit organization that promotes more conscious and responsible innovation in Latin America. We discuss the origins of Sur Global, its purpose, and the educational model they’re using to train new generations of designers with a critical and locally grounded approach. We also reflect on the future of design in the region, the importance of rethinking the methods we were taught—methods that have historically been central to the world of innovation and technology—and the importance of adapting them to the contexts in which we are designing. We discussed the conference they’re organizing for October—a space where they aim to build community, learn collectively, and design from the Global South. A powerful, necessary, and urgent episode for those of us who believe that design has a social role to play in the world. And remember: we are rebels.
Why decolonization remains urgent: in what is studied, in what is called knowledge, and in what is considered progress.
Today we are joined by Elsie Ralston and Cristian Situ, co-founders and Co-Executive Directors of Sur Global. From Peru, we’re discussing the key role communities play in the professional development of designers, the disparity in the maturity of design across the region, and how to create spaces with a local purpose that inspire learning, connection, and action.
For centuries, we have designed without considering our interdependence with nature, but today it is not enough to simply reduce harm: we must design to restore. The challenge is to transform our practices to regenerate ecosystems, communities, and economies through technology that coexists in harmony with nature. From carbon-capturing architecture to urban planning that transforms cities into living ecosystems, the key lies in revaluing ancestral knowledge and fostering a regenerative mindset. 📸 Ricardo Gómez Ángel, Pim de Boer.
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