Design Thinking Roundtable ERA Chair in Social Innovation @ Nova SBE

Tales of the Field is a podcast series which gives voice to social activists and social innovators who work in and with their communities to create social impact and sustainable change. They share with us their work in the field - where they  tackle complex social issues and aim to create sustainable change and social impact. At its core, their work is human-centered, systemic and always informed by a deep understanding of the context and people’s lives.

In this episode, we talked with Gilbert Nkpeniyeng, who after working as a program officer with Amplio Network, is currently doing his MPhil in Development Studies at Cambridge University (UK). Gilbert passionately believes that access to knowledge can change people's lives. He shares his personal experience with the Amplio Talking Book, an audio device designed for users with low literacy, he encountered while in primary school. He also tells about a project he implemented with women producing shea butter in Northern Ghana highlighting how all community members were involved.



To read more about Amplio Network: https://www.amplio.org/

Follow Gilbert Nkpeniyeng: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilbert-nkpeniyeng-1648a017a/

Co-conception and Voice: Melchior Tamisier-Fayard

Co-conception: Anne-Laure Fayard

Sound design, Music and Post-production: Guilhem Tamisier

Artwork: Jyoti Tamisier-Fayard

Recording done at Fidelidade Creative Studio at Nova SBE

Thanks to Amplio Network Ghana team for sharing some of the audio sources used for the sound design of this episode.

Tales of the Field is a podcast series which gives voice to social activists and social innovators who work in and with their communities to create social impact and sustainable change. They share with us their work in the field - where they  tackle complex social issues and aim to create sustainable change and social impact. At its core, their work is human-centered, systemic and always informed by a deep understanding of the context and people’s lives.



In this episode, we talked with Leslie Davol, co-founder and executive director of Street Lab, a nonprofit that creates and shares programs for public space across New York City, and with Hannah Berkin-Harper, Street Lab's design lead. We talked about the pop-ups they create to improve the urban environment, connect New Yorkers and create communities. They highlighted the value of developing quick and nimble ways to provide resources to residents and develop a street-level environment that can evolve while also testing ideas for longer term changes.

To read more about Street Lab: https://www.streetlab.org/



Co-conception and Voice: Melchior Tamisier-Fayard

Co-conception: Anne-Laure Fayard

Sound design, Music and Post-production: Guilhem Tamisier

Artwork: Jyoti Tamisier-Fayard

Tanya Bhandari is a communication designer from India who has been working in the social impact space for over a decade. Currently she is the Design Director at ⁠YLabs⁠ in Kigali, Rwanda. She was previously Design Lead at ⁠UNICEF’s Office of Innovation⁠ (New York), Design Fellow at ⁠Center for Urban Pedagogy⁠ (New York), and Designer at ⁠Teach for India⁠ (Mumbai.)

In this episode, reflecting on the projects she has been involved, Tanya stressed the power of co-design, where young people lead the process and participate from beginning to end. Tanya talked about prototyping as a form of research and how to prototype in resource-constrained environments. As we discussed how her work involved complex collaborations, she stressed the importance of always having part of the team embedded in the local context. Last, Tanya suggested that design for social impact required designers to step back from a position of expertise, to become sense makers and facilitators.

To learn more about Tanya's work, check her website: https://tanyabhandari.in/about

Follow her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyabhndri/

Credits:

Conception, host and production: Anne-Laure Fayard

Sound design & Post-production: Claudio Silva

Music & Art Work: Guilhem Tamisier

Liz Gerber is a professor at Northwestern University, co-director of Northwestern’s Center for Human Computer Interaction + Design, and faculty founder of Design for America, a national award-winning network of interdisciplinary students who work together to solve problems they care about in their community. Liz works at the works at the intersection of design, social computing, and organizational behavior to understand the future of collaboration and in particular. for social impact. Gerber co-directs the Delta Lab whose mission is to create technology-based systems to enhance learning, collaboration, and performance. Gerber has received awards for her research and teaching from the National Science Foundation, MacArthur, Mozilla Foundations, Microsoft and Smithsonian.



Liz was the Fall 2023 Social Innovator in Residence with the ERA Chair in Social Innovation and the DESIS Lab at NOVA SBE.



Follow Liz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizgerber/ and Twitter: elizgerber

To learn more about Liz's work: lizgerber.com 

To learn more about Design for America: designforamerica.com 



Conception, host and production: Anne-Laure Fayard

Sound design & Post-production: Claudio Silva

Music: Guilhem Tamisier

Art work: Guilhem Tamisier



The Podcast was recorded and produced in the Fidelidade Creative Studio @ Nova SBE

Sara Camnasio is a multi-disciplinary designer and researcher focused on government (public services), science, and climate projects. Her work
spans from integrating design mindsets into environmental and conservation projects, creating educational curricula to engage students on STEAM topics, to helping improve public and private services and products.  After spending 5 years conducting Astrophysics research at the American Museum of Natural History and at telescopes around the world for 5 years, Sara decided to dive into design to apply design thinking methods to science and conservation projects. She’s been a National
Geographic Explorer since 2015, and through this community, she has led and co-led several international projects focused on conservation and environmental education. Currently, she is helping grow Human-centered design and co-design practices at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in the US Federal Government. She also runs the Sonoma County Feminist Bird Club – a growing community of friendly bird nerds who care about the outdoors and social justice.


In this episode, Sara explains how she combines in her work service design with participatory approaches to help people engage more deeply and more consciously with the world around them. She stresses how design shapes all our interactions – with objects, technology, humans, and nature, and therefore has a role to play in addressing issues we are facing like climate change. We discussed how design can help translate complexity and identify and frame what problem to solve, and the role of the designer as a facilitator and storyteller. Sara emphasizes the need for designers to think of unintended consequences and be reflexive about their practice; design being in the end a deeply political practice.



To learn more about Sara's work, check her website: https://www.saracamnasio.com/

Follow her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saracamnasio/



Credits:

Conception, host and production: Anne-Laure Fayard

Sound design & Post-production: Claudio Silva

Music & Art Work: Guilhem Tamisier

Isaac is the founder of Mideva Labs - a research, design and innovation consultancy studio based in Nairobi Kenya, and a co-founder of Idea Studio Africa - a community-powered learning, skills development and apprenticeship studio helping young professionals build meaningful career pathways in innovation and
entrepreneurship. Isaac previously co-founded the Africa YES Program - a 6-month leadership and entrepreneurship accelerator program for young social entrepreneurs in Kenya, which has supported over 80 entrepreneurs to launch social ventures since 2019.

Isaac has over 8 years of experience working in the design, social innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem across Africa and supporting initiatives around the world, including working for openIDEO - IDEO’s open innovation platform that supported innovators across the globe to solve some of the biggest world’s challenges.

Isaac has a passion for designing with and working with communities and young people to achieve impact and is interested in exploring ways to rethink learning and in investment in young people and their ideas for a better future.



Isaac was the Spring 2023 Social Innovator in Residence with the ERA Chair in Social Innovation and the DESIS Lab at NOVA SBE.



Follow Isaac on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaacjumba/

Twitter: @Isaacjumba



 Conception, host and production: Anne-Laure Fayard

Sound design & Post-production: Claudio Silva

Music: Guilhem Tamisier

Art work: Guilhem Tamisier

The Podcast was recorded and produced in the Fidelidade Creative Studio @ Nova SBE