Designing with the Andean principle of Ayni: reciprocity in practice

The fourth installment of a series on design lessons from Murmur Ring's Reclaiming Value immersion in Peru's Sacred Valley explores the Quechua principle of Ayni (reciprocity). At 11,700 feet, near an Inca ruin, participants learned from Tomasa of the Warmi collective from K'acllaraccay about mutual care practiced by Indigenous Andean communities. Ayni involves balanced exchange strengthening bonds with community and nature, not measured in money but in cycles of support. At MIL Centro, an eight-course lunch traced eight ecosystems, with ingredients from local artisans. The article argues designers should embody reciprocity by sharing knowledge, honoring ancestral wisdom, and considering long-term impacts. Principles include circulating value, honoring intergenerational knowledge, embedding co-flourishing, thinking in cycles, and starting with self. The piece poses the question: 'What will we choose to give back?'