V&A Innovate is an annual National Schools Challenge, inviting students in years 7, 8 and 9 to design a solution to a real-world problem. We run a range of online events helping educators to inspire the next generation of designers, makers and innovators. Watch recordings of our V&A Innovate Talks series below, exploring themes of community, co-design, inclusive learning and respectful design.
Innovate: Community Co-design with RESOLVE
Hear from Akil Scafe-Smith and Seth Amani Scafe-Smith from interdisciplinary design collective RESOLVE, as they combine architecture, engineering, technology and art to address social challenges. For RESOLVE, design carries more than aesthetic value – it is also a mechanism for political and socio-economic change. An integral part of this way of working means designing with and for young people and under-represented groups in society.
Innovate: Learning Without Limits with Professor Dame Alison Peacock
We were joined by Professor Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, a professional body that seeks to raise the status of the profession through celebrating, supporting and connecting teachers, in order to provide expert teaching and leadership. Professor Dame Alison Peacock shares her research into Learning without Limits, and how her inclusive theory of change can be applied to the challenges currently faced by teachers.
Innovate: Public Spaces with Silo Studio and Wealdstone Youth Workshop
Hear from Silo Studio, the design collaboration of Attua Aparicio Torinos and Oscar Lessing. Silo Studio’s work focusses on industrial processes and adopting a hands-on approach (which they refer to as ‘handmade hi-tech’). Silo are joined by Esther Calinawan and Leo Harrison who were part of the Wealdstone Youth Workshop – a collaborative project bringing Silo together with young people in Wealdstone, north-west London, to design and make furniture for the local community.
Innovate: Respectful Design with Dr Dori Tunstall
Dr Dori Tunstall is Dean of the Faculty of Design at the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD University) in Toronto, Canada. An academic leader in decolonization and indigenization of design curriculum and practice, Dr Tunstall is also the first black dean of a design faculty in the world. In this talk Dr Tunstall shares her research into respectful design and introduces how her methodologies work in practice with the new project ‘It’s My Future Toronto (IMFTO)’.
Innovate: Creative Practice with Gayle Chong Kwan
Gayle Chong Kwan works primarily with photography, sound, video and installations, creating extraordinarily fantastical landscapes and environments that exist somewhere between the imagination and reality. She makes structures of sensory waste, recycled materials and discarded objects that force the viewer to question and confront the reality of excessive consumption. In this talk Gayle shares examples of her multidisciplinary practice, including her residency at the V&A.
Find out more about V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge here.
