Event title
Community building event in Estonia.
Date and location
Tallinn University organised a community building event at the University of Life Sciences (EMÜ) in Tartu at FR.R Kreutzwaldi 5 room 2A13 on 18th of April 2023.
Participants
This event was announced as a training for EMÜ staff members and all teaching and technical staff were invited. As the day was quite long, people were coming and going throughout the event. As the slides and all other materials were distributed after the event. It is estimated that the event helped reach at least 50 participants.
Description of activities
The event included several sessions. First, participants were exposed to design thinking and why it is relevant for higher education staff members. Participants became aware of the user centered approach of the methodology, that helps develop solutions to difficult challenges by considering the experience of users from their exposure to a proposed solution. Organizers provided an overview of design flaws in a humorous way to engage the adult audience.
The second session focused on design thinking concepts. Participants were familiarized with well-accepted design thinking steps, such as problem discovery and empathy, through which designers strive to understand the real parameters of a problem through research, identification of user needs through a process of empathy that helps designers identify real, as opposed to perceived requirements, ideation or brainstorming through a series of exercises and practices that help bring out the creativity of the design team, selecting a solution to turn into a tangible prototype, and evaluating the prototype through the engagement of characteristic users.
Participants also developed understanding of the circular nature of the design thinking process, namely the fact that designers may revert to any of the above steps if they find that the prototype they have designed must be enriched to effectively address user needs.
The third session focused on design thinking practical exercises, during which participants were exposed to practical design thinking activities that can be deployed in the classroom to support design thinking steps. We guided the participants through the challenges of 30 circles and waterfalls.
In the last session the participants divided themselves into groups and decided on a problem to tackle with design thinking on the ICT-INOV platform. They worked in teams using on-line shared workspaces to edit jointly owned files for brainstorming and idea sharing purposes.
See the event program
Dissemination
The event was disseminated through EMÜ internal and external newsletters and their portal.
Event presentation on the Creative Technologies Learning Lab, University of Thessaly social media page 29/6/2023 see more
Event presentation on the Creative Technologies Learning Lab, University of Thessaly portal 29/6/2023 see more