UIC’s Center for Social Innovation held

the First Social Innovation Challenge Workshop

 

Conceptualisation to Actuation — the Pathway for Innovation

 

 

 

The Social Innovation Challenge Workshop commenced on 16 January of 2017, and the event was held by Underwood International College (UIC)’s Center for Social Innovation at Design Factory Korea, Yonsei International Campus. Students from UIC’s Techno-Art Division (TAD) and Integrated Social Sciences Division (ISSD) engaged a 4-day intensive workshop, where they received an opportunity to plan and create a new product or service to solve social challenges. The workshop provided a unique platform for students to form interdisciplinary teams to conduct field research, design prototypes, and present their solutions.

 

The Social Innovation Challenge Workshop is a program intended to act as a catalyst for students to learn, design, and explore the field of social innovation beyond the range of the workshop. The ultimate aim is to build new capabilities in social innovation which will deepen and broaden the field, and serve our society in meaningful ways.

 

Leading industry experts and faculty members lectured about social innovation cases in Korea and abroad. Additionally, prototyping tools lectures were held to further provide the students with hands-on experience in prototyping. Participants of the

workshop were taught how to utilize tools such as 3D modeling program, 3D printers and laser cutters to actualize the models for their products. Overall curriculum allowed students to apply some of the core principles of social innovation to their own ideas and research.

 

On the last day of the Social Innovation Challenge Workshop, the participating teams gave final presentations and they were judged based on how well they planned, designed, and implemented the solutions to social challenges. Team The Three Musketeers’ project to bring awareness to the Guryong village won the 1st prize of $1,739 (KRW 2,000,000), and both team JackPot and Chic Chic won the second prize of $870 (KRW 1,000,000). Students’ excellent work ethic and their creative ideas offered innovative solutions to the social challenges.