Design Exchange in Utrecht, The Netherlands
On the 23rd of September 2013, Emma facilitated a Design Exchange workshop for people interested in design in large organisations in Utrecht. In the event, Emma shared some of the key learnings from organisations featured in the book such as Novabase (in Portugal) and Minas Gerais (in Brazil) on their attempts at embedding design in their organisations. The book made its first public appearance in the Netherlands in this event.
The Design Exchange featured a range of speakers, each contributing with different experiences and a different story showing the many faces of innovation in practice. Thomas Blekman introduced how organizations should be a Kick-Ass Panda using the principles of Effectuation. Esther Beckers from Philips told the wonderful story of how the MenuMenu cooking consumer research project ended with the creation of the HomeCooker. Bela Evers encouraged the rest of the attendees to let design take on its own form and to get out of their comfort zone often enough. Miguel Melgarejo showed a surprisingly sustainable solution to the issue with the lack of sanitary conditions in India, reserached by the Technical University of Delft. It was Frank Wind, a co-founder of Zero Gravity Movement, who presented his solution to sustainable pig farming. Martin Lloyd from Greenpeace introduced the simulation of a real situation with the purpose of enhancing responsiveness to the Greenpeace organization regarding unexpected public events. Thimon De Jong from Trends Active entertained the audience with recent trends in various industries.