Expert "Lightning" Chats
During the symposium, we are hosting a series of Lightning Chats to highlight innovative or uncommon projects related to cities: revitalizing spaces and fostering active and caring communities, capturing the creativity of the crowd, increasing the resilience of cities, and recovering and sustaining heritage in the process of urban change.
OpenIDEO / Community Renewable Energy Challenge
Synopsis: Communities have immense potential to unlock solutions that create local impact. This OpenIDEO challenge asks "How might communities lead the rapid transition to renewable energy?" It taps into our vast community-level resources to accelerate the transition from our current reliance on fossil fuels to one where renewable energy, a strong economy and clean air are the new status quo. About the Organization: OpenIDEO is a place where people design better, together for social good. It’s all about collaborative innovation focused on creating real world impact around some of the large challenges facing our world today. To become a place where good ideas gain momentum and transform into impact, OpenIDEO calls upon diverse participation from a global audience. We believe that the sharing of perspectives, inspiration and ideas is likely to lead to more resonant solutions than any of us could create on our own. OpenIDEO was developed by IDEO, a design and innovation firm – as a way to include a broader range of people in their design process and address global issues, together. |
Tzu Chi Foundation & Da Ai Technologies / From Bottles to Blankets: Innovative Recycling Initiatives in Taiwan's Neighborhoods
In 2008, recycling volunteers with the Tzu Chi Foundation started a company called Da Ai Technologies that specializes in transforming plastic PET bottles into textiles for consumer products. All proceeds from these efforts support Tzu Chi's charity work; and blankets made from bottles have been deployed far and wide for disaster relief, in places like post-earthquake Haiti. An interactive exhibit showcases many garments and household items made from recycled PET fabric and highlights the recycling and manufacturing process, a combination of social action, technological know-how, and humanitarian aid. About the Organization: The Tzu Chi Foundation is an international non-profit humanitarian organization founded in 1966 with missions spanning charity, medicine, education and environmental protection. It has offices in over 40 countries and carries out aid operations in over 72. Learn more about Tzu Chi USA (http://www.us.tzuchi.org/us/en) and Tzu Chi at Stanford (http://tzuchi.stanford.edu). About the Speaker: Gigi Lin is a PhD student in the Chemical Engineering Department at Stanford. She volunteers with the local collegiate chapter of Tzu Chi in her spare time, taking part in activities such as food distribution to low-income families and oak tree watering at the Dish. Please contact her (gigil@stanford.edu) if you're interested in volunteering! |
City of Oakland / Chief Resilience Officer Victoria Salinas
About the Speaker: Victoria Inez Salinas is the Chief Resilience Officer for Oakland, California. Prior to becoming CRO, Victoria was with the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery at the World Bank for three years, where she contributed to international efforts to help high-risk, low-income developing countries better understand risk, reduce their vulnerabilities to natural hazards, adapt to climate change, and recover following large disasters. In 2005, following Hurricane Katrina, Victoria joined the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. While in the Gulf Coast, she designed and ran a $400 million pilot program that led to improved housing for thousands of displaced families. Following other major disasters, Victoria worked with state, local, and tribal leaders to conduct needs assessment, coordinate federal agencies and setup technical teams to support community-driven recovery planning. She also helped lead the development of the National Recovery Framework that now guides recovery in the US. Victoria also brings with her post-conflict recovery experience as a coordinator of United Nations peace building projects in Africa, Strategic Planner for the State Department, and as a researcher for the World Bank’s Post Conflict Unit. She has a Bachelors degree from Georgetown University and Master in Public Policy from Harvard University. |
Kapital Creation - A Beijing State of Mind
An unsustainable precedent. A city at odds. A creative capital. A documentary examining Beijing's rampant development.
*SNEAK PEAK* at a new documentary film
Beijing is one of the fastest growing urban sprawls in China with over twenty million people and rising. It is becoming clear, however, that change is coming at the expense of cultural heritage, equal opportunity, and quality of life. Kapital Creation, a film by Matthew Niederhauser and John Fitzgerald, tells the story of artists, musicians, architects, and writers striving to bring new direction to Beijing's race to modernize. This event features a sneak peak at the film, premiering new footage, and a conversation with journalist, photographer and filmmaker Matthew Niederhauser.
An unsustainable precedent. A city at odds. A creative capital. A documentary examining Beijing's rampant development.
*SNEAK PEAK* at a new documentary film
Beijing is one of the fastest growing urban sprawls in China with over twenty million people and rising. It is becoming clear, however, that change is coming at the expense of cultural heritage, equal opportunity, and quality of life. Kapital Creation, a film by Matthew Niederhauser and John Fitzgerald, tells the story of artists, musicians, architects, and writers striving to bring new direction to Beijing's race to modernize. This event features a sneak peak at the film, premiering new footage, and a conversation with journalist, photographer and filmmaker Matthew Niederhauser.
Synopsis: Set within the largest infrastructure buildout in the history of mankind, Kapital Creation examines the urban explosion of Beijing through the eyes of creatives. The capital of China is setting a dire precedent for the rest of the country as development continues to come at the expense of cultural heritage, natural resources, and quality of life. The project engages artists, musicians, architects, and writers who see the need for a different future, and why this is absolutely critical not only for China, but also the rest of the world. In order to circumvent the strict censorship and media agenda of the Chinese state, Kapital Creation will also extend to multiple digital and physical platforms to promote open dialogue concerning the direction of urban development in Beijing. The capital of China needs to be reimagined by those who see the need for a different and more sustainable future.
About the Speakers: Matthew Niederhauser and John Fitzgerald are producing and directing Kapital Creation. Matthew is an artist, photojournalist, and filmmaker whose work investigating youth culture and urban development has been featured in The New Yorker, The Guardian, National Geographic, Wired, and The New Republic amongst many others. John is a director and cinematographer who creates films, music videos, commercials, and video installations, including projects for The World Wildlife Fund, The Discovery Channel, and Tribeca Films, and has screened his work at the Panama Biennial, Rio de Janeiro Film Festival, Berlinale Talents, and Rotterdam International Film Festival. |
HandMade in America / Developing Regional Art & Culture Clusters
No single small town can truly become a national tourist destination—but what if we create multiple destination sites where visitors can have new and different experiences each day? Where something is offered for every type of visitor and age cohort? Through grant support, HandMade has begun conversations with 14 small towns across rural Western North Carolina (WNC), working with each town to self-identify and map their assets. A community-based team identifies projects needed and develops a plan that ultimately leads to a unique destination that touts authenticity, and leans on the creative sector to drive a tourism economy. Simultaneously, this creates an atmosphere where new families and new business want to locate, helping make WNC a new hot bed for entrepreneurial start-ups. About the Organization: HandMade in America has developed a process called Creative Placemaking, an Asset-Based Community & Economic Development where we identify and map the art, cultural, heritage, agricultural and recreational assets across the region. Each of these asset categories drives a form of tourism, which is the new economy for rural Western North Carolina. About the Speaker: Glenn Cox, Executive Director, HandMade in America, has over 30 years of professional community and economic development experience in Memphis and rural West Tennessee. Glenn was hired as Executive Director of HandMade in America in December 2013. Before coming to HandMade, Glenn worked as Vice-President of the Mississippi River Corridor - Tennessee, a non-profit focusing on economic development in Tennessee’s six rural counties along the Mississippi River from 2009-2013. Prior to that, he served as the President and Executive Director of the Memphis Community Development Partnership, an intermediary funder, lender and technical assistance provider to community-based development corporations in Memphis. Glenn has a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Memphis. |
Clarity (UC Berkeley) / Personalized Air Quality Monitoring
Synopsis: Clarity is the world's first wearable air quality monitor. Created for China, India and other polluted places, Clarity helps you make smarter decisions with real-time updates on the air immediately around you. The crowd-sourced data will generate the world's most detailed pollution maps. Get real-time alerts of high pollution levels, track over time with the Clarity Index, and compete with friends and family for the freshest score. Developed by a UC Berkeley team, funded by the The Foundry @ CITRIS. About the Speakers: David Lu and Hannah Hagen (read more) |
Techsoup Global / Designing Sustainable Learning for NGOs
Synopsis: In his lightning chat "Designing Sustainable Learning for NGOs," Glenn Fajardo asks "why does design thinking matter?" through a story of TechSoup Global's work in developing an eLearning platform for NGOs in Mozambique. About the Organization: TechSoup Global founded in 1987 as CompuMentor, helps nonprofits globally get and use technology to heighten their impact. TechSoup Global also helps companies and foundations optimize their philanthropic impact. TechSoup Global's mission is to work toward a time when every nonprofit and NGO on the planet has the technology resources and knowledge it needs to operate at its full potential. A guiding principle in our work is that NGOs are agents of change, not beneficiaries of aid. Our efforts are focused on creating sustainable communities in which all participants are contributors, not on the redistribution of resources from the haves to the have-nots. We believe that all participants have resources that, brought to bear on a problem, can result in real solutions. This currency of contribution underwrites all of our work. About the Speaker: Glenn Fajardo works on international partnership and program development for TechSoup Global, a nonprofit social enterprise founded on the belief that technology can be a powerful enabler for greater social change. Glenn has helped NGOs get started with design thinking in places such as Maputo, Singapore, and Warsaw. In the past, Glenn has helped build a for-profit environmental social venture from the ground floor and helped foster use of technology by a local government to better connect residents to services and public decisions. Glenn has been a contributor to the Stanford Social Innovation Review and is the curator for TEDxPeacePlaza in the Japantown and Fillmore neighborhoods of San Francisco. Formally trained in nuclear engineering sciences and public policy, Glenn is also a musician who plays electric bass in the rock band Path Not Found. In his free time, Glenn enjoys playing with food, especially in other people’s kitchens. |
Design for Everyday Social Good / Fostering Inclusion through Connection and Reciprocity
Synopsis: Innovations for social impact can be rapidly originated and tested by using design-thinking. A recent Stanford d.school class (Autumn 2014) taught by Deland Chan, Glenn Fajardo and Kevin Hsu, dived into design-thinking aimed at creating social good. Participants spanned students as well as other Stanford affiliates from different departments. The design thinking process bolstered the participants' creative confidence throughout interactive sessions. These sessions spanned field immersion and empathy, brainstorming, prototyping, testing and reiteration(s) to refine the initial prototypes. The participants tackled issues such as today's increasing social isolation despite technology-driven hyper-connectedness. The design thinking "double-funnel" was experienced by starting with a narrow focus, then opening up to broader perspectives for ideation, and finally narrowing down to a well-defined prototype. Technological and social innovations can enable the uptake of each other while enhancing social good. A human-centered approach to innovation can be crucial to foster social impact. About the Speaker: Andrea Carafa is a Fellow at Stanford. His research focuses on technology, science and innovation networks that address global challenges. He has been a EU Marie Curie Researcher on emerging technology for social and economic impact, and worked at Grenoble-em and the European Commission, while visiting at CERN, GSI and Bocconi University. His work has been funded by the European Commission, CERN, GSI and European Science Foundation, and has inspired applications in science and technology. Andrea has represented AEGEE-Europe at the United Nations, founded Green Young Economy and contributed to the UN Rio+20 process and summit, among others. Trained in economics, law and business in Italy, Finland, Denmark, Spain, France, the UK and the US. Andrea has taken part to academic conferences and has been a public speaker, rapporteur, project contributor, session co-organizer and moderator at several international organizations (e.g. World Economic Forum, UN, European Commission). |
Mapbox / Fragmented Space and Transit in the Bay Area
About the Speaker: Andreas is a recent graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and has worked as an architect and urban designer in Shanghai, New York, and Hong Kong. His work this summer, in partnership with urban planning think tank SPUR, focuses on San Francisco’s fragmented transit system and how it's affected by the changing economic climate of the Bay Area. |