We facilitate and host workshops, alone or in collaboration, by leveraging our design thinking expertise to develop hands-on interactive learning experiences focusing on multiple topics such as storytelling, prototyping, co-creation, design your life and design skills (from research, ideation to prototyping) as well as support the development of meaningful and sustainable solutions to complex social and environmental issues.
Some are open to the public; others are only for Nova SBE students. We are open to partner with organizations and companies.
PLACES OF (IM)PERMANENCE
“What forces lead us to distance ourselves from our land? To what extent can we do something against them? Is leaving an act of courage?How far does this journey go? What land do we call our own? Where is home to return to? When does impermanence become permanence?”
The collective Mais uno +1 orchestrated a transformative residency, inviting artists, curators, collectives, and researchers to delve into impermanence. The program not only aimed to stimulate conversations for project development in Bairro do Talude and Quinta da Fonte but also emphasized the value of engagement, reflection, and dialogue.
Sponsored by the DESIS Lab at NovaSBE and with the support of the NovaSBE Community Engagement Department, the initiative goes beyond showcasing results; it endeavors to amplify the voices of communities, offering visibility and recognition to those integral to our society and nation. In the spirit of connection, the program for February and March ’24 fosters a platform to engage, reflect, and honor the stories of migration, social impact, and neighborhood ties.
We invite everyone to check the program below and participate on at least some of the activities that we’ve put together to address this very much current topic.
Registrations HERE.
Lunch, Politics and Leadership
On August 31, 2023, Sameera Chukkapalli Holmes, a designer, social innovator and changemaker, and one of DESIS Lab @ Nova SBE mentors, led an interactive workshop with Nova SBE students to discuss how to get closer to a fairer and more inclusive democratic society for young people and for all. There was an informal open discussion and brainstorming session to understand the fears that limit one from participating in political endeavors, and unlock adaptive leadership skills.
This event was organized by the DESIS Lab @ Nova SBE as part of the Discovery Week and the 2023 Estoril Conference.
Designing your way through life: Design thinking for personal growth
An interactive workshop focused on helping discover the value of embracing a design attitude to planning our future. By applying principles of design thinking to our own life and career to leave behind entrenched thought patterns and create space to develop our individual ideas of a life that is both, meaningful and fulfilling.
An activity hosted by CEBRA, a student-led initiative from the Masters in Impact Entrepreneurship and Innovation in collaboration with the DESIS Lab at Nova SBE.
The first cycle of this 2-stage program was held in March 2023 and the second in October 2023.
Panel – ‘How to Scale Innovation from local to global?’
Anne-Laure Fayard was invited to be part of the panel of Impact Hub Lisbon 5th anniversary, which took place on May 13.
The topic of discussion focused on how to foster collaboration between locally rooted entrepreneurs to achieve large-scale change.
The Power of Storytelling for Your Business
On May 10, 2022, Anne-Laure Fayard run a storytelling workshop for refugees working on entrepreneurial ventures. This event was part of the ProfCom program run by Renovar a Mouraria.
NOVA Vista
Nova Vista is a program created by the DESIS Lab @ Nova SBE and the ERA Chair in Social Innovation with the support of Nova SBE. It promotes community engagement through art and design with a focus on social impact and sustainable development. Our first edition will take place in September 2022 at Nova SBE.
It will include workshops developed in collaboration with Largo Residências, a Lisbon-based organization, that contributes to local development through art and culture. The art and craft workshops will be led b artists and refugees and offered to NOVA SBE community as well as to the larger public.
Selected Past Projects
The Design Lab at NYU MakerSpace
The idea for the Design Lab was born out of a student initiative with the support of Anne-Laure Fayard. In the spring of 2012, the OpenIDEO Student Chapter at NYU (now Design for America of NYU) used the design thinking process to launch an open innovation called ‘My Vibrant Campus,’ inviting students to collaboratively design spaces and services in and around the campus that would address a clear need for a space where students could meet, work, and get inspired.
From this challenge emerged the Greenhouse, a space aimed at fostering innovation, collaboration, and cross-pollination of talents across the NYU community. The Greenhouse led to conversations about the need for more prototyping spaces and in 2018 it was brought under the NYU MakerSpace and renamed the Design Lab, to ensure continued support and maintain growth. Anne-Laure Fayard was the Faculty advisor for the Design Lab until 2022.
Read more here: design lab, design lab-history
The NYU Prototyping Fund
The NYU Prototyping Fund was launched in February 2023 by Anne-Laure Fayard with the support of a VentureWell grant. It was a collaborative program offered by the Design Lab @ NYU MakerSpace and the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute. Anne-Laure Fayard was a faculty advisor until December 2021. It awards teams of students up to $500 in the first round of funding and up to $2,000 in the second to be used to build hardware or software prototypes, and connects them with the resources, tools, and mentors they need to bring their ideas to life.
Since Fall 2021, the program has pivoted : it is now a collaboration between the Design Lab @ NYU MakerSpace, NYU Tandon’s Technology Management and Innovation Department and New York City Future Manufacturing Collective (NYC FMC).
The Bindi Guide
The Bindi Guide developed by Anne-Laure Fayard and students from Design for America was a winning idea they posted on an Amplify Challenge on OpenIDEO.
The Bindi Guide aims to help NGOs and grassroots groups co-create self-sustaining programs to empower low-income women. It provides them with a step-by-step process on how to design and facilitate such programs using a human-centered design and train-the-trainer approach.
It was developed by Anne-Laure Fayard and students from Design for America as part of a winning idea they posted on an Amplify Challenge on OpenIDEO. They partnered with a not-for-profit in Nepal to pilot the project in 2015-2016.
As part of the Bindi project, Anne-Laure Fayard explored design methods – one was shared on the Design Kit by IDEO.org.
Lights at Night in Kathmandu: Anne-Laure Fayard developed with Ashwin Gopi, a Ph.D. student at Tandon a solar paint prototype that with the help of a group of Nepalese youth.
Placemaking Reimagined
Placemaking Reimagined was a project developed by students from Design for America NYU and Anne-Laure Fayard (2017-2019). They used human-centered design to address issues faced by women experiencing homelessness. After multiple iterations, the team co-created a pop-up exhibition. Placemaking Reimagined was co-created with two women, Rachel and Tabby, who the team visited regularly for a year. It presents Rachel and Tabby’s perspectives while inviting visitors to become aware of their specific individualities; to understand their feelings, hear their stories, and learn about their lived experiences.
