Design with the Other 90%: CITIES exhibition opened last week at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to large crowds and international press. The exhibition’s location provides a unique opportunity to connect numerous stakeholders, including design professionals, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, academics, those in the public and private sector, and the general public. During...
Richard Campanella tracks the physical geography, historical development, and population of New Orleans from colonial times to after Hurricane Katrina.
The third of the grand challenges posed by Secretary Wayne Clough for the new strategic plan of the Smithsonian is explained by the sentence: “As a steward and ambassador of cultural connections, with a presence in some 100 countries and expertise and collections that encompass the globe, we will build bridges of mutual respect, and...
Dhaka, Bangladesh Preparation for the next exhibition in the Design for the Other 90% program series brought me to numerous informal communities in mega-cities throughout Southeast Asia. As the world becomes more urban – over half the world now lives in cities – there is much to learn from locations that have been dealing...
Join in a Twitter-based Social Entrepreneurship Chat organized by Ashoka. The real time discussions on social entrepreneurship issues take place the 1st Wed of the month, 4-6PM US Eastern Time. The next conversation on Wed, July 1, focuses on mobile innovation. Ashoka is now partnering with the Lemelson Foundation on a new initiative to support...
The majority of India’s poor still live in rural villages, while the many living in the urban areas have increasing purchasing power. In response to this growing disparity an Indian organization, GOONJ, has developed a large-scale resource mobilization initiative to re-use surplus clothing from the urban consumers to the rural poor; rather than simply giving...
A low cost UV water filter is making an impact in the field. Mexican non-profit Niparaja teamed with AquaStar and the local Technological Institute on the design of the low cost UV Bucket water filter. AquaStar/Meridian designed the 12V ballast that powers the UV lamp inside the UV Bucket, for use with solar panels in...
