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Upcoming Conferences

2nd Conference on Economic Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity
March 26, 2010
The second international conference on degrowth will develop clear policy proposals and strategies for action on degrowth and define the key open questions and research agenda. The conference will foster interaction between participants and put emphasis on the development of cooperative research. This conference will follow a novel format. It will include selected keynote speeches and roundtables by distinguished degrowth scholars. The conference will however mainly be based on paper presentations with oral sessions, posters and working groups.

Design Research Conference 2010
May 10, 2010
Sponsored by IIT's Institute of Design, this 9th DRC will be a conversation about the new frontiers of design research. It will host the world’s most compelling stories about the human condition and unmet needs. It will be a stimulating place to learn the most innovative new research methods. It will address the challenges facing the industry head on. Finally, it will continue to explore how design research can help us address the grand challenge of bringing meaningful things into the world.

International Festival of Cultural Diversity
May 11, 2010
Sponsored by UNESCO, ten days of concerts, exhibitions, performances and a conference focused on arts, music and crafts produced throughout the world.

D: All Things Digital
May 26, 2010
Sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, this conference is devoted to digital and technological innovation and is especially noted for impressive speakers on the order of Arianna Huffington, Evan Williams and Mark Cuban.

13th Annual Subtle Technologies Festival 2010
June 03, 2010
For 12 years, Subtle Technologies has provided a forum where participants share their projects, theories and technologies around an annual theme. Subtle Technologies is also a place where artists, scientists, and other innovators inspire, inform and generate new concepts and tools. The 2010 theme is Sustainability.


2010 International Design Development Summit (IDDS)
July 07, 2010
IDDS 2010 will be somewhat different from previous years — whereas past summits focused on creating prototypes, this summit will focus on turning these prototypes into products and getting them into the hands of people who can use them. It is the goal of IDDS 2010 to guide project teams through the process of becoming viable ventures with business plans to disseminate their innovations at scale. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the many challenges of entrepreneurship and technology dissemination for developing markets with a diverse group of people from around the globe.

Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders
July 25, 2010
Limited to senior executives involved in strategy or design projects, this program of the Yale School of Management aims to foster an understanding of the interreliant but often mutually misunderstood areas of business and design.

International Design & Emotions Conference
October 04, 2010
Sponsored by the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the Design & Emotion Society, this biannual forum is where practitioners, researchers and industry leaders meet and exchange knowledge and insights concerning the cross-disciplinary field of design and emotion. The conference will offer workshops, research paper presentations, design case presentations, and poster presentations.

Feast Conference
October 15, 2010
The Feast Conference gathers the world's greatest innovators from across industries and society to empower, inspire and engage each other in creating world-shaking change.

All Conferences & Events >>

Academic Programs

Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability
Academic course hosted by the Stanford Institute of Design involving graduate students from all seven schools at Stanford University. Multidisciplinary student teams work to create innovations that lie at the intersection of business, technology and human values. The class is project-based, and all projects are done in close partnership with a variety of local and international organizations.

The Rural Studio
Auburn University program co-founded by the late Samuel Mockbee that engages students and a select pool of graduates from outside the university in the practice of community-based architecture in Alabama.

BaSiC Initiative
"The BaSiC Initiative is a collaboration of faculty and students from the University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture. We support community partnerships through: housing solutions for Native Americans, housing and community services for migrant farm workers, schools and health clinics in central Mexico, etc. Each program draws upon the unique relationship of communities to their environment, finding solutions that embrace appropriate technologies while reinforcing local values to spur self-initiated development."

More Academic Programs >>

Competitions

Re:Vision
Initiative to create the prototype for an innovative, sustainable urban community. At the heart of the process is a series of contests generating visionary ideas for what can and should be done in the design of urban space.

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Fellowships & Prizes

Curry Stone Design Prize
Supported by the Curry Stone Foundation of Oregon and administered by the University of Kentucky College of Design, this $100,000 prize is given annually to a designer or design group with a project or idea that improves global, social, or humanitarian conditions.

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Organizations

Acumen Fund
The Acumen Fund is a global charitable venture fund that contributes to the eradication of poverty by investing in enterprises that stimulate economies in poor areas. Focus is on supplying market-based critical services, such as health care, energy, housing and water.

Design Corps
Founded in 1991, this Raleigh, North Carolina-based organization uses the talents of recent architecture and planning graduates to provide improvements to low-income rural communities. Supports a program of Community Design Fellows.

Design Studio for Social Intervention
Boston-based "creativity lab for the non-profit sector" that unites urban designers, cultural architects, game designers, performance artists, and youth to translate design theory into large urban games, block parties, silkscreened T-shirts, political campaigns, and interactive spatial installations.

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Programs & Initiatives

Starbucks Shared Planet Youth Action Grants
"Starbucks has a culture of innovation and entrepreneurialism. With the Starbucks Shared Planet Youth Action Grants, we use this spirit of innovation to inspire young people to take action to create positive solutions to real local needs they see in their neighborhoods. We believe that by supporting young people, we make real change in local communities and inspire additional individuals to take part in community service."

Project M
An intensive summer program founded in 2003 by designer John Bielenberg to persuade young graphic designers, writers, photographers and other creative people that their work can have a positive and significant impact on the world.

The Governors' Institute on Community Design
Modeled on the Mayors' Institute on City Design, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Governors' Institute on Community Design was created in 2005 as an advisory resource for state leaders to guide development in their states. Runs targeted one- or two-day workshops.

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Publications & Websites

Next Billion
"Website and blog bringing together the community of business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, policy makers and academics who want to explore the connection between development and enterprise....Our goal is to highlight the development and implementation of business strategies that open opportunities and improve the lives of the world's approximately 4 billion low-income producers and consumers."

Social Design Site
Online platform that showcases and moderates discussion of international social design projects. "We want SocialDesignSite.com to be that place where we can all observe, reflect and engage with the world we live in."

Personal Democracy Forum
Webzine and social network that fosters discussion of the intersection between politics and technology, concentrating on social and political changes wrought by the internet. Issues calls to action through advocacy section. Hosts annual conferences in the U.S. and abroad.

More Publications & Websites >>

Social Networks

BOP Source
"Social network that closes the digital divide, bringing together the 4 billion people at the base of the economic pyramid (the 'BOP') with the companies and NGOs that want to hire them and design products and services for them."

Design 21
UNESCO and the Japan-based company Felissimo are behind this network, which connects designers, businesses and nonprofits for the greater good and hosts competitions to create socially minded products and graphics.

Open Architecture Network
An online, open-source community founded by Architecture for Humanity. Offers a place where designers can share ideas and projects and host or participate in competitions

More Social Networks >>

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