DESIGN THINKING, SUSTAINABILITY AND SPANISH
Maggie Broner, St. Olaf College
Vanderbilt University, March 16th 2015
TODAY….
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I will share the experience from an
interim course at St. Olaf College
were I used Design Thinking, while
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Exploring the topic of
sustainability in Latin America
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Developing advanced oral
communication skills in Spanish
(GE ORC)
Inspired by a Sabbatical year in
Silicon Valley
THE COLLEGE OF SAINT OLAF
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Small selective liberal arts college (~
3,000 students)
Mission emphasizes a “Global
perspective”
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4-1-4 calendar
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Teaching focused institution
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4 Semester Language Requirement
SPANISH AT ST. OLAF
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Integrates language and
content
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From FL Requirement to
Major level courses
Through the analysis of
authentic “texts”
(multimodal)
Development of Academic
Language and Higher Order
Thinking Skills
61 Spanish majors, 46 are
“double majors”
WHY A COURSE ON SUSTAINABILITY IN
SPANISH?
Current and relevant topic
 Growing interest in sustainability
across campus
 Bridge between existing curriculum
and students’ interests
 Calls from our profession to
transform FL programs
 FL can help “unpack” cultural
narratives
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SPANISH 274: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN
THE SPANISH SPEAKING WORLD
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Topic: Sustainability in Latin America
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Elective for Spanish majors
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GE: ORC
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4 hours of class each day (including lunch)
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Classroom as “Design Thinking” Lab
WHAT IS DESIGN THINKING?
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An iterative, systematic and structured approach for
tackling problems and produce innovative solutions.
It is….
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human-centered
intentional
collaborative
optimistic
experimental
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Evolved from design
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Expanded into other areas
DESIGN THINKING
KEY FEATURES
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Engages interdisciplinary
teams
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Draws inspiration from
real people
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Promotes collaboration
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Encourages new ideas
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Promotes a culture of
experimentation
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Encourages early failure
as part of the process
DESIGN THINKING
THREE PHASES
2. Ideation:
Generate Ideas
1. Inspiration
(empathy):
Uncover user needs
3. Action:
Experiment
Build
Learn
Repeat
THE CHALLENGE
How might we increase sustainable practices
in Latin America ?
Five interdisciplinary teams
1. THE INSPIRATION PHASE:
DEVELOP EMPATHY FOR “USERS”
•Cultural ‘texts’
•Readings on
Sustainability
•Presentations
20 Interviews
“Voices” from Latin
America and
the USA
•Field trips to Bon
Appétit
•St. Olaf Campus
•Sustainability
initiatives
THE INTERVIEWS
Why?
To develop empathy
for our participants/’users’
To search for inspiration
with respect to initial
challenge through their
“voices”
To discover “areas of
opportunity”
How?
Teams of two. One
interviews, the other
takes notes
Open ended questions
Look for “good quotes”
Who?
20 interviews
1. Vegetarian Student from
Venezuelan
2. Director of “Sustainabilities”
3. Uruguayan Professor of
Social Science and
Agriculture
4. Director of movie
“Bananaland”
5. Student from the Bahamas
who studied in Costa Rica
6. Community Organizer from
Colombia
7. Argentine activist who
promotes sustainable
practices in local
communities
ONE INTERVIEW
Marcela,
Professor of social science and agriculture, Universidad
de la República del Uruguay.
Developed a program for professionals and academics to
investigate sustainable development that is socially just,
and economically viable.
“Traditional development increases production and
profitability…the goal is sustainable rural development”
“Optimize production, not maximize production”
“No one eats organic meat here, it is exported”
SYNTHESIS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“Download” interviews into ‘post-it’ notes.
Analyze data
Discover patterns or “areas of opportunity”
Share your findings
Formulate brainstorming questions
SOME AREAS OF OPPORTUNITIES
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Balance health with sustainable practices in a
limited diet
“Quinua travels great distances, but I need the protein”
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Reduce the physical and mental distance between
production and consumption
“A person should have the determination to kill and prepare
animals if they want to eat them”
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Offer local food at a reasonable price
“When I am spending my own $ on food…cost is the most
important factor”
BRAINSTORMING QUESTIONS
HOW MIGHT WE…
educate communities on the difference between
sustainable and healthy?
 make local food a viable option?
 increase awareness of origin and ‘real’ cost of
food?
 increase access of healthy and sustainable food to
more communities?
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2. THE IDEATION PHASE:
GENERATE FRESH IDEAS
Selection of ideas
Brainstorming
Hundreds of new ideas
•3 sessions in 2 days
•Mixed groups
•One moderator per group
•Rules for Brainstorming
•15 minutes per question
•Voting at end of each session
SOME IDEAS THAT EMERGED…
“The more you know”…TV
public announcement ads
Vertical gardens on
buildings’ walls
“Hire a farmer”
Reality show where
Byoncé becomes an
organic farmer
Food labels with
“real cost” of food
3. THE ACTION PHASE:
“BUILD TO THINK, AND BUILD TO LEARN”
Working on prototype
“Stav Stickers”
Getting feedback
“Oles a la granja”
FROM IDEAS TO ACTION: ONE EXAMPLE
How might we incorporate local food so that it
is a viable option?
“Make bigger gardens at St. Olaf”
“Gardens on the rooftop of every building”
“Greenhouses that grow tropical food to make
it local”
Prototype
“The aromatic roof—an herb garden on the
Roof of Regents”
THE “PITCH”: MAKING THE CASE
STUDENT REACTIONS
“I feel it has been so much time since we were forced to be
creative…”
“I feel that when you hear the word ‘group projects’ you immediately
are like…[made weird face]…but Design Thinking was so effective
that everyone was involved, we got everybody’s ideas, and we worked
collaboratively in a way that was actually productive and
meaningful”
“Wow, we are just a bunch of twenty-year-olds [and] have this
capacity to do this in another language over a month and even
generate these really cool ideas that could potentially be
implemented here”
“It really affected me… we’ll apply these concepts in other areas of
our lives”
“Something that was really cool about having the focus on Latin
America in this class was that it really influence me in terms of
getting things back to this place”
WHY DT IN THE FL CLASSROOM?
REFLECTIONS
Benefits:
 Structured approach to existing good practices in FL
classes
 Natural context for Advanced Level Language and
discursive functions
 Encourage Collaboration across disciplines
 Career ready skills grounded in DT
Challenges:
 How to transfer principles to other course formats
 Requires some training
 Embrace a culture of experimentation for students
and faculty alike
QUESTIONS
DT WHERE TO START
RESOURCES
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http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/
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http://www.openideo.com/challenge
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https://dschool.stanford.edu/groups/k12/wiki/613e8/Cr
eating_Design_Challenges.html
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http://www.cooperhewitt.org/conversations/2011/09/09
/ready-set-design
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http://dschool.stanford.edu/
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http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/how-to-designbreakthrough-inventions-50138327/
BIBLIOGRAPHY USED IN THE COURSE
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Barruti, S. (2013). Mal Comidos: Cómo la industria alimentaria Argentina nos está matando. Buenos Aires, Argentina:
Espejo de la Argentina Planeta.
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Brown, T. & Katz, B. (2009). Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation.
New York, NY: Harper Collins.
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Fletcher, K. & Grose, L. (2012). Gestionar la sostenibilidad en la moda: Diseñar para cambiar. China: Blume.
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Fox, A.A. (2011). Latinoamérica: Presente y pasado. Binkowski, D. (Ed. 4). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
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Galeano, E. (1994). Úselo y tírelo: El mundo visto desde una ecología latinoamericana. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Grupo
Editorial Planeta.
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Kelley, D. & Kelley, T. (2013). Creative confidence: Unleashing the creative potential within us all. New York, NY:
Crown Business.
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Marcote, P.V. & Mira, R.G. (2009). Sostenibilidad, valores y cultura ambiental. Madrid, Spain: Ediciones Pirámide.
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Mendivil, E.O. (2013). Educación ambiental para la sostenibilidad: El medio ambiente y su relación con la ecobionomia
y la sostenibilidad. Lexington, KY: Instituto Mediterráneo Publicaciones.
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Robèrt, K.H., Broman, G., Waldron, D., Ny, H., Byggeth, S., Cook, D.,… Missimer, M. (2012). Manual de sostenibilidad:
Planeando estratégicamente para la sostenibilidad. Suecia: El Instituto de Tecnología de Blekinge.
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Rossi, A. (2009). La loca de Gandoca. San José, Costa Rica: Legado.
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Svampa, M. (2013, Marzo-Abril). Consenso de los commodities y lenguajes de valoración en América Latina. Nueva
Sociedad, 244, 30-46.
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United Nations. (2004). La sostenibilidad ambiental del desarrollo en Argentina: tres futuros. Santiago, Chile: Gallopín.
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In addition to:
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“Even the Rain” directed by Icíar Bollaín
Readings from Latin American Press, “Geomundo” (Spanish version of National Geographic), and other materials from
web searches
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential within us all. Tom Kelley and David Kelley. 2013.
How schools kill creativity. Sir Ken Robinson. TED Talk. 2006.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity/transcript?language=en
Four Lessons in Creativity. Julie Burstein. TED Talk 2012.
http://www.ted.com/talks/julie_burstein_4_lessons_in_creativity/transcript?language=en
IBM 2010 Global CEO Study: Creativity Selected as Most Crucial Factor for Future Success. http://www03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/31670.wss
Study Reveals Global Creativity Gap: For immediate release Universal Concern that Creativity is Suffering
at Work and School. Adobe Systems.
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/201204/042312AdobeGlobalCreativityStudy.
html
Why St. Olaf? http://wp.stolaf.edu/admissions/academically-rigorous/
E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize
Lecture. Robert D. Putnam.
http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Leading-Institutions-byInstitutional-Type/2012-13
Sustainability Nesting Image By KTucker (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons from Wikimedia Commons
Owens, David A. Creative People Must be Stopped: 6 Ways We Kill Innovation (without Even Trying). John
Wiley & Sons, 2011.
Melin, Charlotte. "Program Sustainability Through Interdisciplinary Networking: On Connecting Foreign
Language Programs with Sustainability Studies and Other Fields." Transforming Postsecondary Foreign
Language Teaching in the United States. Springer Netherlands, 2014. 103-122
RULES FOR BRAINSTORMING
Defer Judgment (“yes, and….”)
Build on the Ideas of Others
Encourage Wild Ideas
Be Generous with Your Ideas
Stay Focused on the Topic
One Conversation at a Time
Be Visual
Go for Quantity