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Upcoming Conferences

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Academic Programs

The Design High School
Learning to think like a designer gives the students the experience and skills they need for productive decision-making. At the Design High School, a free public charter school in LA, the concepts and practices of design will be used to deliver a rigorous and relevant college preparatory and career oriented curriculum.

Designmatters
Educational program founded in 2001 at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, to advance the discussion of design education’s role in today’s world. Focuses on global health care, public policy, social entrepreneurship and sustainable human development. Manages three to five major projects per term across multiple disciplines.

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.

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Competitions

INDEX Design Challenge : Design for Education
The INDEX: Design Challenge asks design and business students, as well as cross-disciplinary student teams, to develop design solutions for better education and education environments in developing regions. The challenge centers around three sub-themes: Improved Education Facilities; Sanitation and Hygiene; and Gender Parity in Education. As well, the contest features an open challenge. Participants from all design disciplines are invited to enter the challenge.

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

iida - Incheon International Design Award
“iida 2010”, a Korean sustainable design award, seeks fresh and new design proposals to be made by designers with green hearts, being aware of the environment. They welcome active participation of competent world designers to "iida 2010" with the goal of opening possibilities for sustainable life through design. Applicants can enter until August 25, 2010.

Arteles Residency Program, Finland
It is an inspiring place to produce original work and collaborate with  
other energetic and ambitious artists & creative professionals. We are  
place that encourages experimentation and innovation - a place that  
also gives voice to works that otherwise have nowhere else to be  
produced or displayed.

There are lots of opportunities to connect with the locals and get  
plugged into the contemporary art scene in Finland.

Besides fostering creativity, we also value partnering with  
established institutions and influential figures to create a rich  
network for artists to be embedded into. Our foreign collaborators  
around the world value the selected group of Arteles artists and are  
willing to offer working possibilities for fresh inspiring projects  
and new creative people.

We see relationships with artists as ongoing and continue to work with  
you even after you leave. We have new refurnished living and studio  
spaces which are designed to support creative activities and social  
exchanges.

You are also welcome to experience the extraordinary nature of  
Hämeenkyrö Finland (European Union Landscape Award in 2009) where you  
can soak in the fresh air, go for wandering walks in the deep forests,  
swimming in the many lakes nearby, go skiing and skating at winter  
time, do guided hiking and trekking trips in the nearby nature or have  
daily relaxing in a traditional wood-fire sauna. And If you get lucky,  
you can even get to know the fascinating and rich old culture of  
Finland viewed through the Kalevala Epic, full of trolls, witches,  
myths and its inherent ties with nature.

The Do Something Awards
Since 1996, DoSomething.org has honored the nation's best world-changers, ages 25 and under, that are making the world a better place. Nominees and winners represent the pivotal "do-ers" in their field, cause, or issue.

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Organizations

Interaction Institute for Social Change
"We are a nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of collaboration within the social sector to create a just and sustainable world. IISC provides consulting, facilitation, network building, leadership development, and training services so that our clients can innovate, think strategically and take vision to action. We build the capacity of all with whom we work by modeling the behaviors and transferring the skills and tools of collaboration. "Today our focus is on integrating technology and new social media to achieve greater social impact in all of our collaborative work."

Catapult Design
Nonprofit design consultancy that provides building and implementation help to organizations in need of products for social change.

WHY
"Founded in 1975, WHY is a leader in the fight against hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world.... Advances long-term solutions to hunger and poverty by supporting community-based organizations that empower individuals and build self-reliance, i.e., offering job training, education and after-school programs; increasing access to housing and health care; providing microcredit and entrepreneurial opportunities; teaching people to grow their own food; and assisting small farmers. WHY connects these organizations to funders, media and legislators."

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Programs & Initiatives

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.

DESIS Lab at Parsons
The DESIS Lab advances the practice and discourse of design-enabled social innovation toward more sustainable cities. The DESIS-Lab conducts applied research into the ways in which design can enhance community-led initiatives in the development of more sustainable ways of living and working. The DESIS Lab brings together faculty and students from across the disciplines at The New School, led by Parsons The New School for Design and Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy.

Charlottesville Design Marathon
The Design Marathon is an annual event held at the Charlottesville Community Design Center (CCDC) involving teams of area designers who each provide 12 hours of pro-bono design services to ten deserving area non-profit organizations. Each creative team includes a student pursuing a design-related degree.

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Publications & Websites

Appropedia
Wiki for collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development through the use of appropriate technology and the sharing of project information.

Afrigadget
Afrigadget is a website celebrating ingenuity. Six editors manage submissions from a team of bloggers and readers showcasing projects designed in Africa with limited resources.

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."

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Social Networks

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

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.

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