Via MoreThanThisBlog.
Lessons from the field by Josh McManus, the co-founder of CreateHere, a Chattanooga, TN nonprofit specializing in community renewal through entrepreneurial endeavor.
Epicenter AmeriCorps VISTA position available!
The Epicenter is seeking immediate fulfillment of a new AmeriCorps VISTA position. Contact us very soon if you are interested. We intend to fill the position by February 16th.
Read on for more information on the position.
A few months back I started a letterpress project. It required participation from friends all over the country, so the process was long and unpredictable. It was challenging and fun, and I hope to do more projects like it in the future.
As these things go, the final product doesn’t much resemble…
(Source: amanda-buck, via glynnis)
In asking us to shed outdated notions of Africa as a place wracked by poverty and war, during his PopTech 2011 talk Erik Hersman (PopTech 2008 Social Innovation Fellow) lays out numerous examples of entrepreneurship and innovation streaming out of that continent, and specifically, out of Kenya. As you watch his talk, use this guide with accompanying links, to cross-reference some of the examples he’s provided:
- iHub: Open space for technologists, investors, tech companies and hackers in Nairobi.
- Akira Chicks: All-girl coding group in Nairobi responsible for M-Farm.
- M-Farm: A transparency tool for Kenyan farmers to get information about the retail price of their products, buy their farm inputs directly from manufacturers, and find buyers for their produce.
- Frances Kere: An architect from Burkina Faso who builds schools using sustainable materials.
- Maker Faire Africa: A community of makers and handcrafters in Africa focused on origin, ingenuity, and innovation.
- Pivot 25: Mobile apps and developers conference and competition focused in East Africa.
- AfriLabs: Established African tech incubators and open collaboration spaces banding together to further promote the growth and development of the African technology sector.
- M-PESA: A peer-to-peer mobile transfer solution that enables customers to transfer money.
- Ushahidi: A non-profit tech company that develops free and open source software for information collection, visualization, and interactive mapping.
- MXit: A social networking site and instant messenger platform.
"Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager."
— Susan Sontag (via nicolelavelle)
(Source: the-dominoeffect, via nicolelavelle)
From my brilliant friend and one time walking companion Megan Deal comes Yes We’re Open, a collaborative documentary project based in Detroit.
Among the foreclosed properties, abandoned infrastructure and empty plots that flavor the city, the designers search for signs of progress, activity and human ingenuity by identifying and documenting an object almost too ubiquitous to draw notice; the open sign.
Three Women Jointly Receive the Nobel Peace Prize
(CNN) — Women’s rights took center stage Saturday at the Nobel ceremonies as three women recognized for their struggles against the backdrops of the Arab Spring and democratic progress in Africa accepted this year’s peace prize.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Leymah Gbowee, a social worker and peace campaigner from the same country, shared the prize with Tawakkul Karman, an activist and journalist who this year played a key opposition role in Yemen.
The three were chosen for their non-violent struggle against injustice, sexual violence and repression.
“Ever since the Norwegian Nobel Committee made this year’s decision known, the people of Norway have looked forward to seeing you on this stage,” said Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
“You give concrete meaning to the Chinese proverb which says that ‘women hold up half the sky,’” he said. “We thank you for the hope you awaken in us all.”
Jagland said the work of the three laureates should serve as warning to dictators even as more civilians were killed Saturday in Syria.
Fantastic.
On Design Thinking
Nicole Lavelle recently e-mailed a group of designers asking us simply to define “Design Thinking”. She’s teaching at Portland State and wants to show her students these various definitions of “Design Thinking” via a class blog. In her e-mail, Nicole contrasted the concept of “Design Thinking” with merely “thinking about design”.
I was initially taken aback because I don’t exactly feel qualified to give a definition of such a concept. Yet I then realized that I have in fact been involved in projects that have relied solely on this strategic thought process to come up with some pretty innovative solutions.
I figured I’d post my response on here. Let me know if you agree/disagree/feel there’s more to it. It was easier [and made more sense] for me to use bullet points contrasting attributes of the two concepts as opposed to coming up with concise definitions for each…
“thinking about design” references:
- forming an opinion about a rebranding project
- debating the ethics behind an ad campaign
- forecasting the future of publication design
- using common, “natural” thought processes
- often topic-specific / uni-disciplinary
- a focus on theorizing & hypothesizing
- more on an internal, individual level
“Design Thinking” references:
- a strategic thought process [or exercise] with a specific goal in mind
- coming up with an interesting way to brand a nonprofit
- creating a company through the lens of social entrepreneurship
- using atypical, “unnatural” thought processes [i.e. Edward Debono’s “Lateral Thinking” + John Bielenberg’s ” Thinking Wrong” + Tim Brown’s design thinking exercises via IDEO]
- often holistic / multi-disciplinary
- a focus on action & innovation
- more on an external, collaborative level
Thoughts?
