Message-ID: <> Subject: Exported From Confluence MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_Part_24305_1959641602.1574083100727" ------=_Part_24305_1959641602.1574083100727 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: file:///C:/exported.html Welcome and Introduction to the Big IDeA/CanHack 150 Design Chal= lenge Hackathon

Welcome and Introduction to the Big IDeA/CanHack 150 Design Challen= ge Hackathon

On behalf of the Inclusive Design Research Centre and OCAD= University, I'd like to welcome you here today to this design challenge an= d hackathon. 

Designing inclusively challenges us to change=E2=80=94to change ho= w we see ourselves, our work, and the world. It's about changing the persis= tent and unexamined assumptions we bring with us into the creative process.= It's a change in our focus, a change in what we pay attention to, a change= in how we value things. Here, it's not just the most popular or the fastes= t or the most lucrative things that capture our imaginations as designers a= nd hackers. Instead, it's the under-explored ideas and the all-too-often un= heard voices within of our society and environment that drive us.

Inclusive design is a practice, not just a philosophy or a rhetoric but something that emerges from d= oing=E2=80=94from what we make and how we make it. And this isn't a practic= e reserved only for experts or professionals, but for anyone who has ever i= magined a world that fits them and others a little better. Really great, re= ally inclusive designs come from constantly engaging with diverse perspecti= ves, from thinking through the weird and unfamiliar, from taking our time, = and from being willing to get a little lost, to stray off the well-worn pat= h and explore the margins with our sketchbooks, our code editors, and our c= onversations. The margins are germane: they're creative spaces, sites for s= ocial innovation, opportunities to build communities and to discover new id= eas. 

Today's activities, I hope, are a chance for us all to grow and ch= ange our inclusive design practices together=E2=80=94to meet new people, ch= allenge each others' perspectives, and to find new ways to make our physica= l and digital worlds more open, more just, and more creatively engaging for= all. And don't forget, the little things count! This is our chance to not = just disrupt the world, but to gently change and expand its possibilities= =E2=80=94one hack or sketch or little (or big!) idea at a time. Good luck, = and I can't wait to see what you make!