Dott Blog - Festival Guests

Sustainability, Schools and Schooling Debate - Speaker Transcript Part Four

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:07:00+0100

In the final session of the Sustainability, Schools and Schooling Debate we heard from Rebecca Gibbs from the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Hello there. My name’s Rebecca Gibbs and I work at the Department for Children, Schools and Families some of the time. I’m on loan there from the Sustainable Development Commission. And just at the beginning in case I forget to say this at the end, I have to run away because I have to go back to London this evening but I’m not running away from your questions. It’s been really interesting hearing what people are saying about the programme and the problems with it. I can’t promise to influence anything in a major way but I can feedback some of those questions. I didn’t put my email address on this presentation I’m afraid but if you go on to the Sustainable Development Commission website, my name is there and my email address is there. My name’s Rebecca Gibbs. Do feed those issues, points and questions back and I’ll see that they get to the right people. So that’s who I am. [More]

Better Lives With Dementia - Group Discussion Transcript

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:15:00+0100

After presentations from Professor Jim Edwardson, Doctor Susanne Sorensen and thinkpublic, everyone gathered together to discuss dementia.

Below is a transcript of the discussion. You can also listen again to the group discussion. (22.3MB, 48.35mins)

John Thackara: So we discovered there was a physical impediment to our making a perfect circle of these chairs, that we would have had to unhook them all, which was beyond the powers of our limited organisation, so every day we’re making it a bit rounder, but it’s a rather strange kind of bent horseshoe at the moment. The basic concept is that we’re now going to talk to each other on a 100% equal basis.

I haven't had a chance to talk this through in any great detail with Alastair, but my suggestion is that for 15 minutes or so we would focus on the four stories that we haven't heard from – that is to say the next stage of developing services in response to the opportunities we heard.

Then if Alastair, if you could take charge for the last 15, 20 minutes in making sure we come to some kind of conclusion and answer the questions that you set us at the beginning of the afternoon. Would that be a good way to do it? Are you happy with that? [More]

Better Lives With Dementia - Speaker Transcript Part Two

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:45:00+0100

After introduction presentations by Professor Jim Edwardson and Doctor Susanne Sorensen, thinkpublic a public service and communication design agency, and senior producers of the Dott 07 project Alzheimer100 took to the stage.

Speakers Part Two:
Deborah Szebeko, thinkpublic. Listen again (4.28MB, 9.15mins)
Ian Drysdale, thinkpublic. Listen again (2.44MB, 5.20mins)
Ivo Gormley, thinkpublic. Listen again (2.78MB, 6.02mins) [More]

Better Lives With Dementia - Speaker Transcript Part One

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:15:00+0100

Dott 07’s Alzheimer100 project charted the key stages of the journey through dementia in collaboration with people with dementia and their carers. What opportunities for service design innovation exist on that journey? Service ideas that emerged from co-design workshops range from time banking to assistive technology.

This debate, organised in conjunction with the Alzheimer's Society nationally, considered how to amplify the role of citizen co-design in service innovation for health and care.

Read the transcript or listen again below. [More]

Food Systems and Cities Debate - Speaker Transcript Part Two

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:14:00+0100

Part two of the speaker transcripts from the Food Systems and Cities Debate.

John Thackara, programme director Dott 07

When we (Dott) were in Delhi one of the most impactful kind of introductions to the subject of food and cities came from our next speaker, Chris Hardwick, who is an architect from Toronto. Toronto is one of those places that is taking the subject of food and food systems, and carbon and environmental impacts very seriously. This is where I have endlessly repeated the statistic that 30-40% of the carbon footprint of this city comes in one way or another from its food activities, transportation, energy growing, retailing, and so on, which is curiously completely absent when you look at what cities talk about what they are going to do to produce their carbon footprint. So I said ‘We need it to find out more about this curious kind of blind spot, or mislabelling of things. So, that, I think, is what Chris Hardwick is going to talk about this morning. Chris… [More]

Sustainability, Schools and Schooling Debate - Transcript Part Three

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:03:00+0100

After presentations from the Eco Design Challenge and OurNewSchool project teams, the audience gathered together to discuss sustainability, schools and schooling. Read the transcript below, or listen again here (17MB, 37.50mins)

John Thackara: So, we had a gallop through those two projects and I guess the common denominator was finding ways to empower schools, the people in them or as organisations to take more of a proactive and leading role in shaping their futures. Nick what have we learned about from this kind of a first round so to speak, what would you do differently next time? [More]

Sustainability, Schools and Schooling Debate - Speaker Transcript Part Two

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:18:00+0100

Part two of the Sustainability, Schools and Schooling Debate looked at the Dott project OurNewSchool, based at Walker Technology College in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Speakers:
Julia Schaeper
Engine producers of OurNewSchool - Listen again to Julia(3.21MB, 7mins)
Steve Gater
Head of Walker Technology College - Listen again to Steve (2.67MB, 5.50mins)
Hannah Jones
National College of School Leadership - Listen again to Hannah (2.82MB, 6.09mins)

Read the transcripts or listen to the audio files. [More]

Sustainability, Schools and Schooling Debate - Speaker Transcript Part One

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:22:00+0100

One group above all others has a stake in the transition to sustainability: today's school students. Are we giving them enough leeway to shape the world they will live in? Following a visit to the Dott Festival, the debate began with a review of two Dott projects.

In ECO Design Challenge, Dott 07 invited year eight students across North East England to map their school’s ‘carbon and ecological footprint’. Having identified which aspects of their footprint are most wasteful, they then proposed the redesign of an aspect of their school’s life to reduce its impact on the environment.

A second Dott 07 project, OurNewSchool asked: how do we create schools that prepare our children for their futures? The OurNewSchool story was presented by the designers and staff members involved at the prototype school in Walker Technology College, Newcastle. [More]

Food Systems and Cities Debate - Speaker Transcript Part One

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:40:00+0100

Up to 30% of the ecological footprint of a city can be attributed to the systems which keep it fed and watered. But when the mayors of the world's 40 largest cities met recently to discuss sustainability strategies, food was not on the agenda. Why? This international debate, organised jointly by Dott 07 and Doors of Perception, aimed to connect together food systems and city-region development in policy, and to reframe food systems and social innovation as design opportunities. The debate opened with a review of Dott 07’s Urban Farming project, in Middlesbrough, which has involved more than a thousand citizens and dozens of organisations. [More]

Design and Sexual Health Debate - Speaker Transcript

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:58:00+0100

The Design and Sexual Health debate looked specifically at the lessons learned from Dott 07’s DaSH project. DaSH confronted a challenge: sexual health services don’t always reach those most in need. Are our services looking after the nations’ sexual health? What’s stopping them? By engaging a wide audience the project hopes to understand the value of design in health services, and look at how new ideas for service delivery can be realistically implemented.

Read the transcript of the guest speakers below or listen to the audio files. [More]

Low Carb Lane Debate - Speaker Transcript

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:07:00+0100

More and more of us would like to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, especially at home. But how do we do it? Wind turbines? Fuel cells? Solar panels? Wood-chip? How can we do it affordably? Low Carb Lane tackled these challenges head-on, in a real street: Castle Terrace in Ashington. This debate reviews the project from household, local government and industry points of view, asking: how can we save energy, money and carbon – one house at a time?

Read the transcript or listen to the audio files of the guest speakers at the Low Carb Lane Debate below. [More]

Golden Tickets for School Children

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:20:00+0100

We live in wild times. Our children are growing up in a world where they can cultivate their future wedding ring from a piece of jawbone. It’s called bio-jewellery and while getting to grips with it might be a mouthful for most of us, any money, kids think it’s great. In the nano-food industry, the world of Willy Wonka is coming to life. Nano-technology is here and while scientists haven’t quite found the formula for Willy’s Magic Chewing Gum, they’re not far off it. It seems that the processed-food giant Kraft and a group of research laboratories are developing 'programmable food'. Soon we may have a colourless, tasteless drink that we design after we buy by activating nano-capsules, containing the chemicals of our choice to colour and flavour the drink as we choose. That’s not the half of it: how about self-cleaning cutlery or interactive chicken? Check out The Guardian for more. [More]

Carbon Hero Flies High

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:23:00+0100

Is Carbon Hero the future of our travel carbon use? As a son of a pilot and an air stewardess, Andreas Zachariah (Zac) has carbon in his blood. So it comes as no surprise that after a degree in Materials Engineering at Nottingham, followed by a decade as an investment banker, he has returned to his first love. While doing an MA in the Royal College of Art, Zac developed his new product: Carbon Hero along with co-inventor and coder Nick Burch. In the vernacular of his banking days; Zac has put his shirt on it and the two lads are busy testing their device, winning awards and looking for backing. Carbon Hero is a piece of software that works on GPS mobile phones and does all the hard work for us by automatically tracking our travel carbon expenditure as we go about our daily lives. [More]

Dott 07: The Final Frontier

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:05:00+0100

Is it the Starship Enterprise, is it a plane... no it’s an Urban Space Station and it’s coming to a building near you soon. You heard it here first: the advanced colonization of urban roof tops is on the way thanks to the ingenious invention of Professor Natalie Jeremijenko. Natalie Jeremijenko is a powerhouse of knowledge on environmental issues. Listing her qualifications alone, would generate enough CO2 to run a large office block for months. No joke. Some people just blow you away with their credentials and Natalie is one of those. [More]

Every Objects Tells A Story at the Dott 07 Festival

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:19:00+0100

In 1991 Tim Berners-Lee invented the internet and the rest is history. His intentions were pure; in fact, he donated his invention to the world ‘for the good of mankind’.

To say that the internet changed everything is a bit of an understatement but according to a report by the International Telecommunications Union, released at the UN net summit in Tunis in 2005, these changes will be dwarfed by those prompted by the ‘networking of everyday objects’. The study looks at how the use of electronic tags and sensors are bringing in a new era in which today’s ‘Internet of people and data gives way to tomorrow’s Internet of Things’. [More]