SOME PROBLEMS HAVE NO SINGLE SOLUTION, AND CAN ONLY BE GRASPED ONCE YOU TRY TO SOLVE THEM COLLABORATIVELY.
Our generation is different: we are more connected, better informed and have more resources than ever in history—more importantly, we have the desire to change the world, together. Our society is facing new challenges that, although we have the mistaken idea that we have always known how to approach through the paths of sustainability, resilience and integrated design, the truth is we have only recently focused on these challenges as global issues.
Perhaps in part because in the past we did not have the complex ecological information available—or the science—to examine how ecosystem services really work in urban environments, nor did we accept the real dimension of our ecological impact, or had reached to the growing understanding of the multidimensional value of designing adaptively with nature, instead of designing to bend it.
The best intelligence about the trends and shortcomings of any given context exists among those who address it daily.
We help expert and non-expert designers converge, share ideas, and accelerate collaboration through a structured approach, combining collective intelligence and technology to support problem resolution, in complex multi-stakeholder scenarios toward sustainability.
UNDERSTANDING COLLABORATION:
DESIGN USING SOCIAL NETWORK DATA
This effective scientific method of data analysis provides tools to quantify those connections between individual points, often in the visual format –using sociograms– so that we can find structure and patterns in the forces that connect us together –or disconnect us– as a group, which can be our main asset toward toward reaching sustainability collaboratively.
Not your online Social Media networks
Social Network Analysis –which differs from your online social media networks– can lead to new realizations about trends, culture, history and behavior among people who are connected, and somehow transfer information and resources –or not– toward achieving a certain common interest or goal.
Bridging Connections
We look for individuals or organizations that bridge collaboration among a group situation or network, and then we visually portray how support and information flow through those individual connections, to answer practical questions through quantitative answers and new insights using social network analysis, that just were not possible before, opening an exciting range of new options.
For example, how does the social network of Chilean practitioners working on coastal planning and the conservation of coastal habitats look like today? and who are the individuals or organizations bridging them together?
Amplifying Impact
Once we understand how this particular social network looks like and who are the main bridging individuals or organizations at the moment, we can begin to enable connections where those bridges are missing or are disconnected, and establish strategies to address how might we increase collaboration, generate and attract talent, resources, and attention to the topic of coastal planning and protection in Chile?
Collaboration Network Sociograms
Network Centrality: Collaboration Metrics
ACCELERATING COLLABORATION:
USING ECOBLITZ© TO CO-DESIGN
A proprietary real-time assistive technology, developed by Global Nomad, that provides a simple yet powerful way to catalyze groups of all sizes to converge, share ideas, and accelerate collaboration to deal with complex issues in a very short period of time.
A framework for Quick Wins
ecoBlitz© is a framework to help solve unique challenges, where traditional processes underperform.
Goals & Outcomes
* Large groups and Real Time Data toward Rapid Value Generation;
* Foster cross-discipline collaboration among stakeholders;
* Horizontal/accurate design, informed by user engagement —he/she who really understands the problem— experts and innovators working together;
* Compliment sustainability with human-centered design toward quality, efficiency and comfort;
* Rapid-outcome approach toward real design challenges that would otherwise take longer to get solved, if they did;
* Scheduled check-points & Periodic follow-up sessions.
Foreseen Applications
Sustainable Planning
Working with authorities, developers and users in tandem with all pertaining stakeholders.
(I.e. Neighborhood Planning, City Planning, Regional Planning, etc)
Integrated Institutional Building/Facility Design
Working with boards and committees in tandem with stakeholders (staff, students, community) and design teams (consultants, engineers, etc)
(I.e. Higher Education, Patient-driven Healthcare Design, Science, Federal Agencies, etc)
Post-occupancy User-based Feedback toward CPI
Working with clients to perform periodic problem-solving-focused operational reviews for continuous performance improvement of their facilities via stakeholder engagement toward design adaptation and improvement (DesignKATA), transforming evidence into design innovation.
Testimonials
“Just wanted to say many thanks for the opportunity to participate in the workshop and to see EcoBlitz in action. I had a chance to give Cristián some feedback on that en route to the airport – but failed to persuade him to give it away for free:-).” (Rob Clay is Director of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Executive Office, at Manomet.org)
“ecoBlitz© dynamics caught my attention, and being a slow thinker, I wonder if there is something like a eco-turtle (I have a 40 year old turtle called Blitz) with similar short spaced ideas but in a slow dynamic. Participants (in their offices, homes, traveling, in the middle of the night in their beds or wherever) could choose topics and fill cards with ideas in the web or something, as they have them. Other can see what ideas have come up. I guess analysis would be similar, but after a month or more. I wonder if it would work and what the difference in results would be.“ (Thomas Valqui, PhD is President and Director División Ornitología at CORBIDI, Perú).
“Thank you all for a great and informative workshop in Panama – in fact, it was one of the best run workshops I’ve attended – I love it when workshops stay on schedule and I really liked the sticky note app – if you have ideas how we could access that that would be great – I can see using that again. The participants were great as well – many known colleagues but also new people that added a great perspective from other disciplines.” (Andrea Jones is Director of Bird Conservation at Audubon California)
ECOBLITZ© works with iPad
ECOBLITZ© Virtual Sticky eNote Dashboard
ECOBLITZ© Virtual Five-category Sticky eNote Pad
AMPLIFYING COLLABORATION:
CROWDSOURCING DESIGN PLATFORMS
Another proprietary assistive technology developed by Global Nomad, that provides a central place online to meet, share ideas and collaborate, for organizations to post and manage design innovation and sustainability challenges, based on the power of The Cloud and the Currency of the 21st Century: your IDEAS.
A New Means of Production in full Development
Social Network Analysis –which differs from your online social media networks– can lead to new realizations about trends, culture, history and behavior among people who are connected, and somehow transfer information and resources –or not– toward achieving a certain common interest or goal.
Log On, Converge, Swarm.
We look for individuals or organizations that bridge collaboration among a group situation or network, and then we visually portray how support and information flow through those individual connections, to answer practical questions through quantitative answers and new insights using social network analysis, that just were not possible before, opening an exciting range of new options.
For example, how does the social network of Chilean practitioners working on coastal planning and the conservation of coastal habitats look like today? and who are the individuals or organization bridging them together?
Reaching Global Impact
Once we understand how this particular social network looks like and who are the main bridging individuals or organizations, we can begin to enable connections where those bridges are missing or are disconnected.
Cross-Platform Crowdsourced Co-Design
Temperate Rainforest Challenge, Call to Action
Created in 2013, this was the first crowdsourcing innovation challenge worldwide to use this format toward the collective sustainable planning of high conservation value areas of the Planet: The Temperate Rainforest.
Temperate Rainforest Challenge, Full Report