Exploring Intersections
Environmental Restoration, Volunteering, Wellbeing & Technology
2016 is shaping up to be fascinating
I made the commitment at the end of last year to clear space in my life to develop an idea which I’ve had brewing for the best part of 6 years. I decided that it was time to pursue a Masters of Design to explore an acupuncture point which has the potential to unlock significant social and environmental value.
That acupuncture point is the collection of much of my life’s work – environmental restoration with the likes of Conservation Volunteers Australia & New Zealand, volunteering with Raleigh International, wellbeing with Lifehack, and technology with Enspiral & Bucky Box.
At the beginning of 2015, I was told by a senior lecturer at Massey Uni that I was a Designer-ly thinker. I’ve had a new lens on my mahi (work) ever since.
Progressively I have become cognisant that I have been focusing on Experience Design (amongst other things) over the last years, so after a little deliberation I signed up for my Masters of Design (MDes) through Massey University’s College of Creative Arts.
I’ll be writing a lot more about this over the next 2 years of part-time study, as the research project unfolds to explore how Experience Design can be leveraged to improve a range of outcomes for environmental restoration, individuals and society.
This research component will form the basis for my latest social venture – Volunteer Impact.
Some of you may have heard that Volunteer Impact was recently a double-finalist at the WWF Conservation Innovation Awards.
I’m particularly excited to be working with some of the bright minds of Massey’s School of Design – I hope that my advisors will be able to help me bring extra rigour and insight to the process which I wouldn’t have if I was left alone to develop this research. I’m looking forward to being pushed, probed and encouraged to articulate the process I’m undertaking.
I’m feeling incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to explore this intersection with the added insight of Massey’s advisors and the depth of their Design expertise. I don’t know yet which doors it will open, or how the project will evolve, but I have faith in the Design process to increase the likelihood of success – and in that case – positive impact for society and our planet.
“In every walk in nature, one receives more than he seeks.”
If you’re keen to hear more about Volunteer Impact, you can follow us on Twitter. I’ll also be writing about the project here on medium, so feel free to follow me as well.
