Programme

Ravensbourne is an industry-focused digital media and design university sector college on the Greenwich Peninsula in London. In the QS World University Rankings for Art and Design Ravensbourne is positioned 49 in the world, 11 in Europe and 7 in the UK. Ravensbourne has recently been awarded Silver and commended for ‘excellent teaching and learning quality’ in the UK government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
The Mindsets and Skillsets Manifesto: The Ravensbourne Five Principles was devised and developed by the Dean of the School of Design and the Dean of the School of Media as the culmination of their overarching research underpinning a review of the college’s academic portfolio of courses.
Their research included a literature review, various visits to national and international conferences and institutions, the Futures in the Making Symposium, the 20/20/20 lecture programme and the market analysis of courses, as well as staff and student briefings and workshops.
The Five Principles underpin the Mindsets and Skillsets Manifesto and are the foundations on which all curriculum development is based. The defining Principles are:
1. Cultivate / Where the individual thrives.
2. Collaborate / Where disciplines evolve.
3. Integrate / Where education engages industry.
4. Advocate / Where purpose meets practice.
5. Originate / creativity meets technology.

It’s not important where you came from, but where you’ve decided to go. La Scuola Open Source (SOS) in Bari has, in principle, a clear idea: our work is to change (in better) the world we live in. Otherwise it’s not worth it.
We believe that knowledge is the most precious asset and this is why it should be shared and disseminated, not protected and closed away in patents. We believe that this simple statement comes with enormous social and political consequences. A great paradigm shift.
Often we repeat “innovation is always social, otherwise it’s speculation around the ignorance of others”. Moreover, knowledge is something that increases when you divide it. Right? Open Source and hacker ethics are for us a way of staying in the world. In this age in which everyone is controlled through social constructs such as precariousness and fear, the hacker ethic and sharing of knowledge make us free.
The idea is that of a meeting place where teaching, learning and research interweave, where “the process is the project”, in which new professional figures can be formed, contaminated by those trades that are no longer competitive on the market.
These are the 3 base pillars of the Open Source School mission:
1- the enabling of a physical space where it is possible to learn by working concretely in a climate of openness and knowledge sharing, experimenting with social and technological innovation;
2- the creation of an educational offering that can form new professional figures ready to act effectively in the near future, but also capable of rapidly converting through contamination those professions that are now struggling to be competitive on the market;
3- the correlation between teaching, learning and research, so that they can empower each other.
The fundamental aspect, however, is that there is no end result, only a continuous sequence of phases, as K. Lynch wrote. The process is the project. And it is open, to ensure transparency, improvement, participation and sustainability.

The Light City is a project that develops new visions and a strategic plan in which technology is at the service of a higher quality of urban models of coexistence. To lighten the bureaucratic load; to carry out new systems that allow more flexible mobility without the abuse of power of public spaces; to rediscover space in the city for new production models and for goods and services.
A project whose complex structure by its very nature takes on characteristics of lightness and agility thanks to intelligent management, fair sharing of means and resources, the implementation of strategies aimed at strengthening the feeling of belonging, without barriers.
So that the city can become a body of citizens again: a place for relations, bringing people together around a shared project. Ultimately, an enlightened city.
It is in this context that education and learning take on a major role: from now until 2050 it will be necessary to lay down the groundwork in order for the Light City to become a reality. Our young students today will be its future residents; their intellectual and creative resources are the essential elements to prepare a fertile ground on which to build the Light City.
The learning journey is enhanced by an innovative approach, which uses the process of guided creativity typical of the design process to support the development of problem solving and the expression of each child's personal potential.
Teachers and designers work together to create lessons that are filled with opportunities.
They encourage the development of critical and analytical thinking, freedom of thought and expression, and they place importance on cultural differences and curiosity as a driving force in the learning process.

A series of collaborative projects that involve different types of organizations — museums, companies, universities — and build alternative curricula and training methods based on new cross disciplinary approaches and tools, predicated on design as a broker of the past in the present, as the locus of visible, material and immersive story-worlds, and as a catalyst for ideas and imaginaries through the use of objects as gateways to new knowledge. Examples include: (1) the ‘Universal Museums’ project which examines how design has been mediated transnationally through educational practices in industrial arts and design museums over the last 150 years; and (2) ‘Designing for Strategic Futures’, bringing together expertise in design engineering, futures methods, and data science in universities and in industry. This collaborative project investigates the strategic development of design education at this critical turning point in shape of industrial systems, or Fourth Industrial Revolution (41R).

How do we design a culture of problem solvers and change makers? How do we ensure a more productive and efficient workforce, irrespective of career choice?

This presentation reflects the personal journey of a passionate designer and educator, which started in the early 90’s, a similar time to when South Africa embarked on designing a newfound democracy.

While Art is about self-expression, the core of Design is about improving the living standards of people – it’s about changing the narrative of Design from a luxury sector for the elite, to one of necessity, especially in developing countries.

Design is also about business and understanding how to use creative intelligence to add value to a business, a product, an environment, a system, or service-sectors like banking, transport, education and healthcare.
  
The philosophical thread behind this journey is fueled by the vision to design a culture of problem-solvers and change-makers. Design being the unifying thread that links innovation, education and community - the building blocks of a sustainable, inclusive, prosperous society and these concepts all come together at the Open Design Cape Town Festival - 12-day programme of inspiration, discussion and discovery.

Open Design, one of the most dynamic and diverse design-focused festivals in Cape Town, is an interactive platform that attracts participants from all walks of life. Most of the events are free to enter, ensuring that all can participate, taking design and innovation to the people. The Open Design platform uses creativity to empower children and adults with a holistic understanding of the importance and impact of design in basic human needs and promotes design-thinking within the school curriculum, business and civil society as the norm, not the exception, so that future challenges can be tackled with confidence.

People who practice creative intelligence with empathy and an authentic connection with others have the power to bring about change in the way people think, behave, execute, communicate, connect and socialise. Creativity is the key building block in developing responsible future leaders, trendsetters and innovators - a future-generation consciously designing an inclusive and accessible world.