Workshop: Innovation in Food, Agriculture and Integrated Resource Systems: Creating Sustainable Opportunities in Soweto Presenters: Sander Mager and Dr. Christopher Peterson Facilitator: Dr. Naudé Malan When: Thursday 5 June 2014 11:00 – 17:00 Where: VIP Lounge , University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus , Chris Hani Road South Africa is not unique in facing social, environmental and economic challenges. To address these three successfully would require innovative solutions that bring together state agencies and departments, non-governmental organisations and private enterprises. Two leading experts in the creation of sustainable enterprises will in this workshop share their experience of addressing these challenges. Dr. Christopher Peterson and Sander Mager are leading the creation of the Global Innoversity which is an innovation accelerator aimed at inspiring and supporting the world’s metropolitan regions in developing and sharing innovations in food, agriculture and integrated resource systems. The workshop will share the methods used and experiences gained in creating ecological, social … Read More
World Without Fences
Will Allen CEO of Growing Power, Milwaukee, “I have worked with community gardening projects that don’t do a good enough job of involving the garden’s neighbours.”We’ve got to put up a fence to protect our garden,” people will say. I tell them no, you don’t. You have to do the harder work of engaging the community. You’ve got to make sure the neighbours know that the garden is their own, not yours. Kids in the neighborhood threw rocks at my greenhouses when I first opening in 1993, but they stopped several months after my arrival. I had not retaliated or chased them away. Instead, I invited the young people to come and see what we were doing. I gave them summer jobs. Neighbours started respecting the fact that I was bringing food into the community. They started being eyes and ears for me. The community felt ownership in our shared success. … Read More
Cumulus Johannesburg: Design with the Other 90%: Changing the World by Design
When: 22 – 24 September 2014 Where: Johannesburg, South Africa www.cumulusjohannesburg.co.za Hosted by Greenside Design Center (GDC) and the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA) at the University of Johannesburg. Professionals, academics and educators from across the globe are invited to South Africa to share knowledge, ideas and inspiration around the role of design in changing the world. The event includes: – Addresses by three keynote speakers – Presentation of the conferences papers in the morning – Breakaway sessions (workshops and excursions) in the afternoon – An exhibition of student and alumni work from both institutions – A gala dinner See the Call for Abstracts / Papers for more information Educators and academics are also invited to participate in GDC’s three-week community engagement design project (10%) from 1 – 19 September 2014. See the Call for Participation for more information For any queries, please contact info@cumulusjohannesburg.co.za. Cumulus is the only … Read More
Design Society Development CoP
Design for Social Development, a research area and reading group begun in 2010 in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, UJ, is now officially renamed Design Society Development (DSD) Community of Practice (CoP). Our members come from the departments and disciplines of Industrial Design, Multimedia, Development Studies, Architecture, Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Visual Art, Interior Design and Economics. In the face of staggering inequality and rapid change in South Africa, we meet biweekly to interrogate published research/projects and members’ personal research/projects that focus on the intersection of design, society and development. Each year DSD hosts a public seminar at FADA in order to expand the discussion into a public forum and strengthen opportunities of transdisciplinary collaboration. To show the world what we have been doing please visit our new website www.designsocietydevelopment.org It is still under construction but will soon be populated with bios of all the members and the various research projects we have been involved in that fall under the gamut of social impact … Read More
Design for Social Development Public Seminar: Achieving the Good Life: Design as an Instrument of a Caring City
On 16 September the Design for Social Development Reading group will be hosting a public seminar exploring design as an instrument of a caring city. The seminar will be held at the FADA Auditorium, University of Johannesburg, Bunting Road Campus (click here for a map) from 18:30 – 19:00. The two speakers are Erky Wood, who is a specialist in urban development processes and Dr Tom Sanya, who is a senior lecturer in sustainable theory and design at the University of Cape Town’s School of Architecture. The flyer is available here for sharing… I hope to see you there!