DESIS Lab Melbourne

As a member of  DESIS international network (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability), we are focusing on building partnerships with design practitioners, academic researchers, industry and public institutions to collaborate, generate knowledge and make the contribution of design for social innovation visible at a national and international platform. DESIS explores micro, local-level experimentations to achieve sustainable macro-transformations of people and places. Several world-leading research institutions in Europe initiated DESIS in 2008, the social innovation and sustainability scholar Professor Ezio Manzini of Politecnico di Milano being an important figure in the network. Since its launch, local DESIS networks have been established in Brazil, China, Columbia and the United States, with India and the Mid-Orient coming on line. Australia had joined this network in 2010 with hubs established in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.

Several activities are currently being undertaken in the Melbourne hub, thorough partnerships between Swinburne and RMIT University. These include teaching DESIS studios, talks/lectures, collaboration with other DESIS nodes and research.

If you would like to join this group or enquire about doing specific projects with DESIS Melbourne hub, please go to the DESIS-lab Melbourne website.

 

DESIS-lab Melbourne talks in March 2012:

Dianne Moy, The Watershed, Sydney

Sandhya Sharma, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), Adelaide

Justine Barrie and Mel Edwards, Design Managers Australia, Canberra

Dean Parkin, Second Road, Sydney

Mark Daniels, Social Traders, Melbourne

Fumikazu Masuda, Professor of Tokyo Zokei University + Director of Open House, Tokyo Japan

Kate Bissett-Johnson, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne

Soumitri Varadarajan, RMIT University, Melbourne

Other resources:

Cameron Tonkinwise at Open Government Melbourne from Darren Sharp on Vimeo.

Cameron Tonkinwise at Open Government meet up on 25th June 2012. Cameron is one of the world's foremost thinkers on service design for sustainability and the sharing economy. Cameron discussed his work in service design and sustainable urban social innovation through the Amplify Project.Creative Communities around the world aren't waiting for governments and businesses anymore. They are creating more sustainable ways of living and working for themselves. How can we find, improve, and spread community-based solutions for sustainability?