What the Lab is:
Students and young professionals from around the world* are coming
to the 2013 Lab. They will be briefed by UN experts (from the UN
Development Program, UN Environmental Program, UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO
and other UN agencies),** develop comprehensive strategies for solving
some of the world's most critical problems, and then present their
work at the UN. They will learn a powerful strategic design and
planning methodology that will be of use for the rest of their life,
as well learn about leadership, problem solving and the design revolution.
They will learn about global problems, options, technology, culture,
resources and what they can do to make a difference. They will meet
others with similar passions about the state of the world— and what
we can do to make things better.
The Design Science Lab is where solutions to global and local problems
are developed— by you. Read
more
* Previous Lab participants have come from Spain, Mexico, France,
Germany, Ireland, Georgia, Lithuania, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Haiti, Canada, China,
Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, India, Pakistan, Palestine, Ukraine,
Lithuania, Sudan, Nepal, Turkey, Venezuela and all over the US.
** UN presenters have included:
Kathleen Abdalla, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Dr. Richard Alderslade, World Health Organization/Senior External
Relations Officer, Health Policy
Mandeep Bains, Senior Policy Advisor/UN Millennium Campaign
Nazim Benchikh, Youth Program Fellow, United Nations Population
Fund
Suzanne Bilello, UN Education, Science and Culture Organization
Marcia Brewster, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable
Development Division
Margaret Carrington, UN FAO, World Food Programme
Florence Chenowith, UN Food and Agriculture Organization
Albert Cho, UN Development Programme
Elisabeth Clemens, UN Development Programme
Ramu Damodaran, Chief, Civil Society Section, United Nations Department
of Public Information
Ilaria DiMatteo/ Chief, Energy Statistics Section/DESA
Ellen Gustafson, UN FAO, World Food Program
Arunabha Ghosh, UN Human Development Report, UN Development Programme
Shamina de Gonzaga, Office of the President of the United Nations
General Assembly
Donna Goodman, Program Advisor/Water, Environment and Sanitation
Section, UNICEF
Patrick Haverman, Project Manager Millennium Village, Regional Bureau
for Africa, United Nations Development Programme
Patrick Hayford, Director, Office of the Special Adviser on Africa,
UN Development Programme
Liz Hallett, UN World Food Programme
Bashir Jama, Millennium Villages Project, United Nations Development
Programme
Kefilwe Koogotsitse, Youth Program Fellow, United Nations Population
Fund
Karoly Kovacs, Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Environment,
Energy and Industrial Statistics
Julie Larsen, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Program
on Youth
Jennifer Longo, UN, Visitor’s Services
Bettina Luescher, Spokesperson, World Food Programme
Changu Mannathoko, UNICEF, Education Section
Mathew Mcilvenna, UN World Food Programme
Giorgia Passarelli, Office of the United Nations High Commission
for Human Rights
Gonzalo Pizarro, Policy Specialist on Water Resources, United Nations
Development Programme
Mary Roodkowsky, Special Advisor for United Nations Affairs, UNICEF
Guido Schmidt-Taub, Associate Director UN Millennium, Project/The
Millennium Village
Vanessa Tobin, United Nations Children’s Fund
Broddi Sigurdarson, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Jim Sniffen, Programme Officer, UN Environment Programme
Leonardo Souza, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Friedrich Soltau, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Sergio Vieira, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Social
Perspective Development Branch
Lucy Wanjiru/UNDP Gender Team
Carol Welch, U.S. Coordinator, Millennium Development Goals Campaign/
UN Development Programme
Gregory Woodsworth, UN Development Programme
Bill Yotive, UN Department of Public Information
Who it is for:
Students from college and high school as well as teachers and young
professionals from around the world.
When:
June 16 - 24, 2013
Where:
Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA, and
United Nations, NY
Focus:
• Using mobile computers (a.k.a. cell phones) to meet the world's
basic human needs
• Innovations and designs to support the regeneration and greening
of cities
• And other topics
What you will learn, do, and get:
- You will learn a problem solving and planning methodology, developed
by Buckminster Fuller and other scientists and designers, that
will be of use to you the rest of your life
- You will learn about critical global problems that impact the
lives of everyone in the world, as well as the opportunities associated
with these problems, and what we can do to change the current
situation
- You will work collaboratively with other participants from around
the world on designing real world solutions to a critical real
world problem
- You will be briefed by United Nations staff and other experts
on global problems and opportunities
- You will present you work to a team of UN and other experts
- Your work will be published as a book
- You will receive a comprehensive digital collection of the latest
reports from the UN and research organizations around the world
on the state of the planet (over $1,000 worth of reports and studies
on energy, climate change, the global economy, food, and many
other topics).
- You will work very hard and have fun doing it.
Skills Covered
- Problem Solving
- Design Science and Strategic Planning
- Collaborative Research
- Information Visualization
- Project Management
- Research
- Public Speaking
- Team Building
- Leadership
- Taking initiatives
- Critical Path Scheduling
- Fun under stress
Special Sessions
- The State of the World 2013 and 2020
- Globalization 101: Forces Shaping Our Future
- Global Environmental Systems
- Global Energy Systems
- Global Food Systems
- Global Water Situation
- Youth Leadership
- Strategic Design and Planning
- Buckminster Fuller and Design Science
- Global Problems/Local Solutions & Local Problems/Global
Solutions
- The United Nations and Global Well-being
- Building Peace Through the Design Revolution
Check out:
“The most astonishing thing about Spaceship
Earth: it didn't come with an operating manual."
—Buckminster Fuller |
