The world’s social and environmental problems are well-known and leave many feeling as if there is nothing to be done. Decades of attempts at fact-based education have shown that information alone is not enough to motivate people. So how can we develop our students (and inspire ourselves) to take on the creative, energetic, and innovative challenges of actually shaping a just and sustainable future? 

UO is pleased to welcome Meenu Singh, MS.Ed from the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University to design and deliver a one-day workshop for select UO faculty and staff on these very questions. During the workshop, participants will craft aspirational visions they have for their students, experiment with innovative approaches to level up their teaching, and gain tactical skills they can implement into their courses and learning engagements immediately. The workshop is scheduled for September 17, 2024, 8am-5pm, in person on the UO campus. This workshop is for any faculty and student-programming staff, no design-background or expertise required! Share you interest via this form. 

Meenu Singh is a designer and educator focused on helping people (re)discover their creative potential. She is a faculty member at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). In this role, Meenu teaches students in the MS Design program and equips university educators to design transformative learning experiences. She also collaborates with physicians and researchers at Stanford Hospital and School of Medicine to integrate design thinking into medical education. In addition to her work in education, Meenu provides consulting and coaching services to government agencies, private companies, and nonprofit organizations seeking to reinvigorate their modes of thinking and doing. She holds an MS in Learning, Design & Technology from Stanford's Graduate School of Education. When she’s not scheming towards more joyful, just systems and futures, you’ll find Meenu in a state of intense focus on a pickleball court or trying her hand as an amateur ceramicist at her cozy San Francisco pottery studio. 

The workshop is organized by the UO Office of Sustainability and funded by the PNW Just Futures Institute.