experimentadesign '09

I've been invited by the RSA and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to participate in a week long interactive design workshop in Portugal as part of Experimenta, the Lisbon design biennial. The workshop is to examine the role of designers in addressing some of the complex challenges, and the exciting opportunities, presented by an ageing population and we will be working alongside a group of Portuguese designers and design students.
The RSA also have a new, short Design Directions project based around healthy workplaces with particular attention to the ageing population in our workplaces. If you're at a loose end you can see the brief here.
KS

RSA - Action for Age

Back in March my design for the RSA Design Directions Project was shortlisted and I went on to the next few stages - a mentoring session with ThinkPublic, running a workshop at the RSA for potential users of the service and finally an interview.

The brief asked how designers could help to tackle issues of loneliness and isolation in the older population and I responded by exploring how two different groups of people could be bought together to provide a multi - generational network. I made a quick, short animation to help explain my concept to both the workshop participants and the interview board.



The results of the competition have yet to be announced, but in the meantime my project is moving forward. I was approached after the RSA workshops by a Community Centre in Tower Hamlets who are interested in piloting the scheme and I'm looking forward to meeting with them to discuss how a service, such as The Hub, could be designed to meet their particular needs. KS

All Inclusive Sarajevo

From May 25 - May 29, 2009 I will be part of an inclusive design project in Sarajevo, developing desirable designer goods together with disabled expert makers working for different organizations in Sarajevo.

The idea for the project came from designers of the Sarajevo-based Kulturanti association, which hosts the workshops together with the Helen Hamlyn Centre (HHC) at the Royal College of Art in London. The project was awarded a grant under the Creative Collaborations project fund of the British Council.

Local partners and workshop participants are the following companies and organisations: Librag, Association of Deaf and Hard of Hearing of Canton Sarajevo, Pismolik, the Center for Self-Reliance and the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Sarajevo, as well as the Association of Blind of Canton Sarajevo, Association of Paraplegics and Persons with Infantile Paralysis of Canton Sarajevo and Kulturni Front from Belgrade.

I will post again after the workshops, in the meantime you can find regular updates here.

If you know of similar projects that we can refer to as case studies, please post them as comments. Thank you! GG

Shift.ms

Shift.ms is a newly launched social support network, with an online presence, for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis. It was designed with the full involvement of 'Ms'ers' and most of the information, news etc. is user generated, making it a bit of a great example of co-design. With my growing interest in how alternative and 'designed' communities grow and are sustained it will be interesting to watch how Shift.ms develops and in what direction.

KS

Include 09 Inclusive Design Conference

This conference might be interesting:


Include 09, the Fifth International conference on Inclusive Design hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre and held at the Royal College of Art, London, 5th-8th April 2009


Include 09 will feature Breakfast Design Debates from leading designers and design commentators, interactive workshops lead by designers that focus on Inclusive Design, paper presentation on current research in the area and research workshops lead by leading academic research teams in the field.

Evening events include:
Gala Dinner with guest speakers Professor Roger Coleman and Professor Patricia Moore and a Private View of the Healthcare on the Move Exhibition


More information on Include and Include 09 registration GG

Emergency Entrance at Berlin Metro Stations

On a recent visit to Berlin I spotted these 'Emergency Entrance' signs at ticket offices in metro stations. The local public transport provider BVG uses them to inform passengers that their staff will help protect them from racially motivated attacks by providing safe havens in their offices. While the idea is honourable and useful, it is rather sad to think that in a liberal country such as Germany there is still a need for these signs. GG