design

Labs for System Change

The Labs for System Change report is our humble attempt to capture the overwhelming richness of the conversations that took place both within the conference and online via Twitter (we captured over 2,000 tweets over the few days of the event). We hope that the report will also surface some of the most pertinent questions and challenges ... Labs for System Change

The Camp is a base camp for exploring the future

‘Thecamp is a base camp for exploring the future’.  This is how Antoine Meunier, Head of Communications, presented the new innovation campus, inaugurated this past Thursday evening in Aix-en-Provence. The camp came out of an ambitious idea of Fréderic Chevalier, founder of HighCo and recognized entrepreneur of the region. He said it would be a ... The Camp is a base camp for exploring the future

Migrant crisis: what can cities learn about new service design?

This blog was originally published on URBACT. A message from Sicily There’s been a lot of recent talk about the additional pressure new migrant arrivals place on public services. There has been less discussion about how cities – and it is mainly cities – are coping with this. And less still about what we are ... Migrant crisis: what can cities learn about new service design?

Migrants, social innovation and collaborative inclusion

In the next decades, a growing number of people will be on the move. The challenge for Europe is to see this not as a threat, but as an opportunity. That is, to imagine how migration can become a driver of innovation towards a younger, dynamic, cosmopolitan and, at the end of the day, a ... Migrants, social innovation and collaborative inclusion

Lab Practice: creating spaces for social change

How to organise and run a social lab? Lab Practice aims to share experiences from doing a social lab with elderly people in Amsteldorp by sharing methodologies and stories from both changemakers and social lab facilitators. In the face of fast moving, global, often elusive developments, national governments and their counterparts (public sector) find it ... Lab Practice: creating spaces for social change

People Powered Everything?

This article was written by Chris Vanstone (Director of Co-design, TACSI) and is part of our SIX Global Council series on Ideas for the Future.  The commonsensical approach of doing with rather than to might just be sticking, in places. A decade and a half of work on people powered public services and a long demand ... People Powered Everything?

Digital Social Innovation – Future directions

This article was written by Geoff Mulgan (CEO, Nesta) and is part of our SIX Global Council series on Ideas for the Future.  Over the last 50 years vast sums of public money have been spent supporting digital innovation in the military and business.   These fuelled transformative new phenomena – from drones to mass surveillance, Amazon ... Digital Social Innovation – Future directions

The radical’s dilemma: an overview of the practice and prospects of Social and Public Labs.

This article was originally written by Geoff Mulgan on the Nesta website. In this paper, Geoff Mulgan looks at the various social and public labs across around the world. He summarises his personal view of the field of innovation labs – and what might lie ahead – largely based on Nesta experience. The report looks ... The radical’s dilemma: an overview of the practice and prospects of Social and Public Labs.

Design in public and social innovation: What works and what could work better

What’s going right and what’s going wrong? Is design a key to more efficient and effective public services, or a costly luxury, good for conferences and consultants but not for the public? This Nesta paper looks at the elements of the design method; the strengths of current models; some of their weaknesses and the common criticisms ... Design in public and social innovation: What works and what could work better

Public and Collaborative: Exploring the Intersection of Design, Social Innovation and Public Policy

An interesting phenomenon is emerging worldwide: more and more people are organizing to solve daily problems together and are collaborating with each other to live more socially cohesive and sustainable lives. This active and collaborative attitude, driven by several social and economic factors, is also based on a technological pre-condition: the diffusion of technologies that ... Public and Collaborative: Exploring the Intersection of Design, Social Innovation and Public Policy

Walking with Park – Designing against Crime in Cities

Walking with Park: Exploring the ‘reframing’ and integration of CPTED principles in neighbourhood regeneration in Seoul, South Korea. Adam Thorpe (70%), Reader in Socially Responsive Design and Co-Director of the Design Against Crime Research Centre, University of the Arts London. Lorraine Gamman (30%), Professor of Design Against Crime and Director of the Design Against Crime ... Walking with Park – Designing against Crime in Cities

Labs: Designing the future

Participatory, user-centric approaches to solving problems are gaining momentum as alternatives to traditional organizations. Among these approaches is the innovation Lab, a creative, multi-disciplinary environment that employs a proven and repeatable protocol to seek disruptive, potentially systems-tipping solutions. Labs: Designing the Future, published in 2012, examines the Lab’s roots in complexity, networked collaboration and design ... Labs: Designing the future