I love a great TV series as much as anyone, which got me thinking: what if we could have humanitarian innovation TV?
Well, here’s a first attempt. Earlier this year we teamed up with +SocialGood to produce a monthly series of live Google Hangouts called “Innovating for Good”. Innovating for Good sparks conversations about innovation in the humanitarian sector. And, through the series, we want to highlight innovations that already exist and discuss the challenges that the humanitarian sector must overcome to truly innovate. This is a series for the humanitarian in practice or the humanitarian ‘at heart’. If you want to know more about how innovation and human-centered design are being used to solve some of our planet’s biggest humanitarian challenges, this monthly Google Hangout series is for you. As we’re getting ready to air our third episode (live), I thought I’d give you a recap of the first two.
Episode 1
Around the world professionals from the NGO, private, and academic sectors are innovating mobile/inclusive technology to solve a range of humanitarian challenges. Social Impact Lab Foundation (the makers of Frontline SMS) takes us through some good examples.
Episode 2
Our planet’s wars, conflicts, natural disasters have left 50 million people without a home. Designing alternative shelters that are safe and sustainable is a challenge enough in itself, so how do you go from a shelter prototype to actual production? BetterShelter.org (the makers of the Better Shelter Unit) gives us some good tips.
Episode 3 airs live on 20 May 2015 at 10am EST, and I have to say I’m pretty excited for this one. We’ll be talking with UNICEF and IDEO about innovations that enhance education in emergencies. We’ll be sharing more details shortly, but if you’d like to make sure you’re in the loop about upcoming episodes, be sure to share your email address with us (see the Website footer below), or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter, using the hashtag #innov4good.
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