The PennDesign Dean’s Office and PennPraxis are jointly seeking proposals from students and student-faculty teams to develop and implement projects (short or longer-term) that are designed to produce positive social impact in the everyday life of communities, extend critical discourse and stimulate cross-disciplinary collaboration. Projects can range from a one- to two-day conference to a design-build project to an ongoing partnership with a local public or non-profit organization.
Background
Last year, students and faculty at PennDesign actively participated in two social-impact projects, IDEA Days and the Scale/Scope symposium. IDEA Days was a cross-school event that offered a one-time "time out" to allow student-faculty teams from more than one PennDesign academic program to spend one to four days engaging together in pro-bono, community engagement, design-research and/or social-impact projects. SCALE/Scope was a student-conceived and -led symposium exploring new forms of engagement in practice, public architecture, and community impact. We learned from both; each suggested ideas for continuing to support and fund student-initiated, innovative, social-impact projects that enhance our experiences here at Penn.
Building on these activities, the next step is this call for proposals, co-sponsored by the Dean and PennPraxis. Our objectives are: supporting student initiatives, stimulating broad-scale inter-disciplinary thinking, and fostering a more direct relationship between students and PennPraxis.
Proposals
We are looking to PennDesign student and student/faculty teams to propose and create out-of-the-ordinary activities that pursue these objectives. Each proposal should include students and faculty from at least two departments and/or identify a “proposed partner” from beyond our school. The proposal will specify the nature of the activity, skills required, outcomes expected, and number of participants. It will also identify funding required for travel, events, materials, and communications.
Projects can be implemented in the spring or fall semester of 2015. In future years, we intend to solicit proposals each semester for implementation beginning in the following semester.
Selection Criteria
To be eligible, projects must meet at least three of the criteria listed below.
• Engage in activities that help build, serve, and engage the community
• Promote innovation and design excellence
• Include a collaboration among faculty and students from at least two departmental programs
• Connect to local efforts, institutions, practitioners, and community partners such as University City, community development corporations (CDC’s), other schools and centers at Penn, the Philadelphia City schools, the Preservation Alliance, the Mayor’s Office, or others.
• Address social equity, public design, and/or environmental justice issues
Process
We intend this to be an ongoing, distinctive, and visible program at PennDesign. For the initial year, the Dean’s office is providing funding, and PennPraxis will provide coordination and administrative support.
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