Course is closed
Lead Instructor(s)
Date(s)
Jun 07 - 11, 2021
Location
Live virtual
Course Length
5 half-days
Course Fee
$2,900
CEUs
1.7 CEUs
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Innovation doesn’t just generate profits—it can also make the world a better place by addressing pressing humanitarian challenges. Drive innovation and make an impact as a nonprofit or corporate leader by mastering Participatory Design, an evidence-based, problem-solving approach pioneered by MIT D-Lab. In this dynamic five-day course, you’ll learn to mitigate barriers to participation and enable a more inclusive innovation ecosystem.

Course Overview

This course may be taken individually or as part of the Professional Certificate Program in Innovation & Technology.

This course counts as 3 days towards certificate program completion.

Image: International design team from International Development Design Summit 2014 tests low-cost coffee bean sheller prototype with farmers in Tanzania.
An international design team from International Development Design Summit 2014 tests a low-cost coffee bean sheller prototype with farmers in Tanzania.

Participatory Design is a process that engages the individuals who are affected by the challenges and will benefit from the resulting innovation

Innovation doesn’t just generate profits—it can also make the world a better place by addressing some of our most pressing humanitarian challenges. This course delves into an evidence-based, innovation-driven, problem-solving approach called Participatory Design.

Pioneered by MIT D-Lab, Participatory Design is a process that engages the individuals who are affected by the challenges and will benefit from the resulting innovation. In this five-day live virtual course, nonprofit and corporate leaders will acquire essential frameworks and fundamental tools and learn how to apply them in their own mission.

This course was designed as a complementary course to Applied Inclusive Business: Scaling Technology in Low-Income Markets.

Participant Takeaways

  • Define inclusive innovation and its components
  • Distinguish between the three types of Participatory Design and the contexts in which each may be most useful
  • Recognize and mitigate power dynamics and barriers to participation in innovation processes - especially in a virtual environment
  • Apply frameworks and techniques aimed at facilitating the Participatory Design process among diverse stakeholders
  • Identify and understand the actors and factors that enable an inclusive innovation ecosystem
  • Connect with like-minded organizations who use Participatory Design in their work
  • Discover how to partner with MIT on inclusive innovation opportunities

Key Frameworks

Participants will leave the course with a collection of frameworks that enable inclusive innovation processes, including:

  • Inclusive Innovation Framework
  • Participatory Design Process Framework
  • Participation Index
  • Lean Research Framework
  • Inclusive Problem Framing Methods
  • Local Innovation Ecosystem Framework

Who Should Attend

This course is particularly well suited to professionals working in international development, community organizing, or diplomacy, poverty- and hunger-related issues, corporate social responsibility, grantmaking and philanthropy, global health, government service, social entrepreneurship, technology development, STEM education, and higher education.

Attendees often include:

  • Directors and Managers of Partnerships, Strategy, Programs, New Business Development, Training, Research, Outreach and Communications, Monitoring and Evaluation, Product Development, Finance and Operations
  • Engineers
  • Researchers

Computer Requirements

Participants will need a computer with a webcam. During the course, you will work with a virtual collaboration platform called Miro. There will be an optional 1-hour tutorial on June 1 at 10 am EST to prepare participants for the course.

Live Virtual Program Outline

This course meets live virtually through Zoom platform 9:00 am - 12:30 pm EST Monday through Friday, with a few optional virtual networking events throughout the week.

MIT D-Lab faculty, instructors, and program staff bring global perspectives and experience to this course, which draws on real-life case studies derived from Participatory Design initiatives around the world. In addition to case studies, sessions will have a mix of research, dynamic scenarios and exercises, group discussions, and networking opportunities. Because of the emphasis on experiential learning, all sessions have roughly a 1:2 ratio of lectures to virtual group-based activities.

During the course, we will work with a virtual collaboration platform, Mural, and will offer a 1-hour Mural tutorial on June 1 at 10 am EST to prepare participants for the course. 
 

Instructors and guest lecturers

In addition to MIT D-Lab Founding Director Amy Smith and Faculty Academic Director Maria Yang, the course will feature the following:

Course curator: Sher Vogel, MIT D-Lab Global Trainings Manager