strong sustainability

A DesignJam presentation

How can we create and be part of business that is financially rewarding, socially responsive, and environmentally regenerative — flourishing business? In this workshop we will explore and experience a new visual studio approach to designing flourishing business.

Attendance is first come, first served, and registration is free (with a refundable deposit), via Eventbrite.
Please note that you are leaving OCADU’s website when you access Eventbrite, a third party service provider. OCADU accepts no liability for external service providers. By using Eventbrite you are accepting their usage terms and conditions, confidentiality and security process and privacy policy.

Participants will explore a prototype visual design process for Appreciative Inquiry in designing flourishing enterprises and business models. The objective is to enable leaders and collaborative teams systematicallyto envision and design the factors necessary to facilitate transformation toward the flourishing enterprise. We introduce collaborative, visual sense making tools and processes developed at OCAD U by the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group – specifically the Flourishing Business Canvas.

Come discover next-generation collaborative visual design tools for modeling flourishing enterprises in any sector. You'll be equipped to begin using the processes and tools to evaluate enterprises, and to envision new initiatives. Participants will:

• Learn and understand an innovative approach to co-creating business models for flourishing enterprises, based on economic, social, and environmentally-effective design principles
• Gain an expanded appreciation of the challenges facing leaders as they move their organizations toward flourishing, and a set of tools for managing those challenges
• Discover the next generation collaborative visual model design tools for modelling flourishing enterprises in any sector
• Be equipped to begin use the tool after the workshop in the evaluation of existing enterprises, and to envision new initiatives

Participants will explore the design and elements of flourishing enterprises by co-creating business model concepts with a new visual design tool that supports an organization’s inquiry and movement toward strong sustainability[1]. In small groups we will discover the challenges imposed on current business models by current socio-cultural-economic norms, and review some key future design principles required for flourishing business models.

We will then explore an expanded set of business model elements required to describe a flourishing enterprise included in the tool. Attendees will gain practical experience using a case study of a certified Benefit (B) Corporation. Such companies share a goal of creating a more environmentally, social and economically impactful enterprise, consistent with the aims of strong sustainability. In groups we'll envision a future business model – selecting a case to work on – using the tool and design principles to define elements that enable flourishing outcomes for all human and non-human stakeholders. Participants will take away their work as a case study and "leadership lens" for their own organization’s inquiry. All will be invited to share in an appreciative design critique of the tools, and offer feedback for its evolution and further development.

About the Facilitators

Stephen Davies is Managing Director of Transformation by Design, a business design consultancy based in Toronto. His practice is powered by 25+ years of management consulting experience across a wide variety of sectors. Mr. Davies teaches Strategy Development in OCAD University’s MDes Strategic Foresight & Innovation program. He is a Certified Master Designer and Facilitator for the Team Syntegrity process invented by Professor Stafford Beer, the founder of Management Cybernetics.

Antony Upward is a recent graduate of York University with a Masters of Environmental Studies in Business Model Design and Sustainability. He is a Certified Management Consultant with 26 years’ experience in the design and implementation of management information systems for companies such as Apple, Bell Canada, CGI and AT&T. Anthony is an OCAD University Industry Partner and a co-founder of sLab’s Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group. He is a Sustainability Business Architect and Principal of Edward James Consulting Ltd., a flourishing enterprise design consultancy in Toronto.

[1] Strong sustainability, a term defined by Ecological Economists, defines the conditions for a flourishing and resilient society. Resilient, strong, sustainable society is defined as “the possibility for human and all other life to flourish on this planet forever” –John Ehrenfeld.

sLab is proud to be a partner in supporting INTERSECTION — a unique gathering of indigenous artists, entrepreneurs, academics and students  at OCAD University the weekend of November 15 and 16, 9 am – 5 pm.

Keynote speaker Dr. Jessica Metcalfe will speak about how applied entrepreneurship as a platform to address local and global social issues.

Three distinct panels will expand discussions on emerging business ideas and social innovation approaches. Integral to the conference is a series of practical workshops using design thinking, including a flourishing business model canvas workshop that will enable attendees to practice and test their ideas for scaling up and sustainability.

The conference will:

• Highlight successful examples of Triple bottom line (Financial, Social, Environmental) enterprises
• Provide practical tools and workshops for students and aspiring entrepreneurs
• Provide success stories of income generation for organizations looking for ways to replace government funding
• Address intersections and break down barriers between creative and business types

See the Conference website for more information.

Free admission to all – Please register at Eventbrite

Bryan Boyer is building the Helsinki Design Lab (HDL) initiative to address these questions in Finland and beyond, by fostering strategic design. HDL, nested within Finland’s innovation centre, Sitra, is founded on the belief that a deeper understanding of craft will advance our ability to succeed in meeting these redesign needs.

Recently HDL has been spending time with six leading practitioners, focusing on one project each, and getting to know their work in detail. The teams span social science, public administration, technology, design, and community organizing, but all represent instructive examples of stewardship. In these projects and others like them, HDL sees a movement towards using projects to prototype policy, where strategy and delivery are reciprocal and iterative. They are pragmatic and hopeful. They are often without precedent but still proceeding carefully forward. New practices, new themes, and even new vocabularies are emerging as this community grows.

Registration is free at http://slab2012nov.eventbrite.ca/

About the presenter:

Bryan Boyer is Strategic Design Lead at Sitra. His responsibilities include the HDL Studio Model, the HDL Global event and HDL website. Previously Bryan has worked as an independent architect, software programmer, and technology entrepreneur.  He received his BFA with Honors from the Rhode Island School of Design, and his M.Arch from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is co-author of the HDL book, Recipes for Systemic Change. More information is available at http://helsinkidesignlab.org/ and Bryan Boyer's Blog, http://www.helsinkidesignlab.org/people/Bryan_Boyer.

This event is organized in collaboration with SiG.