Daniel Bornstein, globetrotting documentarian of the “social entrepreneurship” school of development, has an opinion piece in today’s New York Times introducing recent White House efforts to leverage prizes as a mechanisms to “pull” innovation into government. It is hard to escape the fact that the examples of “tangibles” (non-software and data based inventions) cited are [...]

About six years ago I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Botswana focused on governance reform and civil society. At the time there was a lot of excitement about the countries progressive environmental stand, the role of women, and youth engagement. I was especially happy to have met young activists from Pioneers of [...]

There’s a great new effort underway to document the everyday fabricators, makers, crafters, and artists at the heart of today’s DIY movement. Its called Makeshift Magazine: A Journal of Hidden Creativity and their first issue is out. If you support their launch by contributing to their Kickstarter campaign, you’ll get a copy! While the magazine [...]

As a mixed media artist, I’m always on the lookout for intriguing, clever, playful, whimsical ways of using ordinary materials to being delight to the urban experience. A few ideas have come to mind recently – principally as a result of a cool project I learned about during the annual MIT IDEAS Competition retreat I [...]

About a year ago a friend I’d met at Goucher College during a Peace Tiles workshop I’d run provided me with an opportunity to push forward an idea I’d had for a while: reproduce children’s artwork produced in a Peace Tiles workshop in a way that would be appropriate to a lively public environment and [...]

As a mixed media artist, I’m always on the lookout for intriguing, clever, playful, whimsical ways of using ordinary materials to bring delight to the urban experience. A few recollections came to mind recently – principally as a result of a cool project I learned about during the annual MIT IDEAS Competition retreat I attended [...]

This summer the Africa-India Technology Institute (AITI) in Accra, Ghana will host Maker Faire Africa, a two-day showcase of African ingenuity and entrepreneurship. Modeled on the popular Maker Faire format developed in the U.S. by Make Magazine and O’Reilly media, the festival will include exhibitions of functional devices invented locally, artwork derived from found objects [...]

I sure would like to be in New Orleans Saturday when Prospect.1 New Orleans opens in the Lower Ninth Ward and throughout the city. Its going to be, “the largest exhibition of contemporary art” in the U.S. – ever. Well, that’s according to the New York Times, with a bit of hedging with a “billed [...]

I’m settling into my new role here at MIT as the IDEAS Competition coordinator. Its a great place to be – the Media Lab, Arts department, Architecture and Urban Studies – all contained within this vast engine of applied research. My role here is to support student interest in applying their ingenuity to community development [...]

Only 2 Weeks Left to Enter! Millennium Promise Competition $10,000 in prize money This is one competition that really matters to the world! Winning designs will be used in the global fight to end extreme poverty. Entries close June 17! Click here for full details design21sdn.com DESIGN 21: Social Design Network Better design for the [...]