2014-12-05
Design Challenges will take place December 6, 2014 from 9 am- 3 pm at MFA The Design For Social Innovation Auditorium in SVA.
What is a Design Challenge ?
The DC program was started in 2012 at Avenues world school as a way to integrate experiential and community-oriented education into the school curriculum, with an emphasis on outcomes for students, ProPartners and the community at large. This year, Avenues has teamed up with SEB to amplify its impact.
This year’s conference Graduate Students from NYU Wagner and DSI, will team up with Avenues student leaders to work on a real-world challenges with selected social enterprises, or what we call “Pro-Partners.” The idea will be framed at the 2-day SEB conference, and continue beyond the event and into the Avenues classroom.
Our aim is to engage DSI and NYU Wagner graduate students with Avenues high school students and local social entrepreneurs in a collaborative student-mentor experience that goes beyond the conference.
For more info on Avenues’ Design Challenges, check out this video.
Partnering social enterprises (SE) have identified company challenges that might hinder them from meeting their social impact goals. Each SE will present their challenge before the conference day to all participating teams. A Design challenge is a chance for Avenues: The World School students to align with graduate students, conference attendees, and professional facilitators to help solve these problems by designing creative solutions. Each team will be taken through a series of design-thinking and rapid-prototyping activities throughout the conference day. All teams will present their final idea on December 6, 2014 at MFA The Design For Social Innovation Auditorium in the School Of Visual Arts where a panel of industry leaders and members of the audience will provide feedback. Prizes will be presented to the teams for the best solutions.
What is the Design Challenge Team (DCT) Process?
By gaining skills throughout the conference, teams will learn best practices in order to tackle their given design challenge. DC Teams will participate in the speaker and workshop series portion of the conference in order to apply their learning to their specific challenge.
Who are the Social Enterprises participating this year?
Ben & Jerry’s, DoSomething.org, Kick4Life, Master & Dynamic, Pencils of Promise, Quirky, Raaka Chocolate, The United Nations Foundation and Warby Parker
How do I apply for a Design Challenge Team?
You must register and purchase a conference ticket first in order to be eligible for a team challenge. However, Design Challenge Teams are limited and we can not guarantee your spot on a team. Next, fill out this application .
If you are not selected to be on a team, your ticket will go towards regular conference attendance and you will able to attend all workshops and speaker seminars as well as watch the final design challenge presentations on December 6, 2014.
When are the final Design Challenge ideas presented?
Design Challenge Presentations are on Saturday, December 6th at 1:30pm at MFA Design for Social Innovation at SVA NYC (136 W 21st St, 5th floor). Teams will meet at 9am to prepare for final presentations.
Each team will be given 15 minutes to present their idea, followed by a feedback session from industry leaders and members of the audience. Presentations must identify: 1. Identified Problem and Need to be addressed 2. Target Audience 3. Proposed Innovative Solution 3. Expected impact & ability to scale
What happens to the final ideas after the conference?
Great question! We hate to see good ideas wasted. Our 2014 SEB partner, the Avenues World School, will continue to work with its students leaders on these challenges and the proposed solutions throughout the year. Alongside Graduate student mentors from NYU Wagner, DSI and other participating student attendees, will help the younger generation to build on the ideas and further bring them to reality.
Want to see these ideas live beyond the conference? Apply to be a New Voices Mentor!
