A core element will be Project Clinics (on the Wednesday and Friday). In these clinics, experts gathered together for Doors will evaluate real world projects and, we hope, help teams refocus their work in light of the lessons learned in the rest of the event.
We organised a similar event in Amsterdam in November and have incorporated the lessons learned then in the format for Delhi.
Here is how Project Clinics will work at Doors 8. The sessions are organised into blocks of time, each one containing:
– theme for block introduced (5 minutes)
– two project presentations (10 minutes)
– Q+A with presenter + plenary discussion (15 minutes)
– Experts Round Table (60-75 minutes)
– Plenary Report (2 minute per table)
For each case study, a Project Leader makes a 10 minute presentation that addresses a list of questions:
1) Why? = the main question being asked by the project
2) Who are the actors/partners?
3) Where? (the locality or situaton)
4) What are the desired outcomes/results of the project?
5) When (timeframe)?
6) HOW can the Round Table help? What are problem, challenge or dilemma does the project face, that the assembled experts can help with?
The meeting then breaks up into groups of about eight people each, sitting around two metres wide tables (labelled A, B, C, D etc). Everyone is allocated to a table in advance (so you don’t have to choose). Each table has a facilitator (briefed in advance) who gets people to introduce themselves, leads discussion, and makes sure that someone takes notes and a final presentation is prepared. The table meets for 60-75 minutes and then the Plenary reconvenes for another round.
We will focus the project Clinics at Doors 8 on design efforts and innovative solutions emerging from South Asia. We anticipate that leading design schools and universities, NGOs, communities and independent innovators will bring projects to the clinics – and that they will leave them in better shape!