Embedding Design in Local Government (short version)

Dr Andrea Siodmok

Chief Designer

Cornwall Council

7th Nov 2012

House of Lords

Embedding design in local government (Shorter version)

With Europe’s support Cornwall has invested over £250m

in innovation infrastructure in the last three years making

it one of the most connected places in the world.

The

imperative

Designers are naturally optimistic and constantly

dissatisfied. The many challenges we face in the next

decade call for creativity, fresh thinking and pragmatism.

Hopes & Dreams

St Austell

St Ives from Tate

World leaders in Davos 2012 cited growing inequality as

the most important issue after the economy that needs

addressing.

Looe

The economic crisis has caused a big rethink. The wicked

problems we face are hard to define, persistent and

contradictory and can require us to ask new questions.

Penzance

Can less be more? How can the public sector cut costs by

50% and still meet growing public expectations for choice

and quality? The solutions inevitably become more radical

Penzance

Lands End

Do we reconfigure existing services? Or create, reinvent,

enable new peer-peer services like 21st century hitch

hiking using digital technologies and social capital.

Change is

inevitable

Shaped by Us...

Making good ideas happen

@shapecornwall

Co-discovery is democratic. To start our challenge we

built a post-it note wall so elected members could identify

one thing they would redesign to make Cornwall better.

The post-its cost a few pounds and we have used the wall

over and over again. It remained outside the council

chamber for a week for all staff and members to see.

County Hall

Each post-it note had the name of the Council member and

the area they represent – 123 ideas from ‘Stop seagulls

attacking rubbish’ to ‘Have a strategy for Cornwall’.

County Hall

Royal Cornwall Showground

Design is positive. At our leadership conference 200 staff

posted their ‘best public service experience’ on the wall

before starting an Open Space Technology (OST) session.

We work on the ground with local people, listening in new

ways and developing a ‘common sense’ of current needs

and perceptions.

We show up in unusual places confounding expectations

and in that moment engaging people in new ways.

Making it fun, easy and satisfying to get involved.

Our radical approach ignites peoples’ passion to make a

difference. We ask unthinkable questions and allow

audacious ideas to be considered.

And by getting everyone involved in contributing ideas,

experience and knowledge through co-design techniques

we turn self interest into shared interests.

Mentors worked with communities to shape ideas and

build realistic business plans, encouraging

entrepreneurialism

Our Community Innovation Awards at the Eden Project

gave a platform to local people. We created an Angel’s

Den of experts who invested in the best proposals.

Our innovation

challenge is

across the

board

Thinking Room was created in April 2011 to develop next

generation public services following from Designs of the

Time programme in Cornwall (www.dottcornwall.com)

It is based at Cornwall Council but operates across the

private, public and third sector to develop radical new

thinking and approaches to Cornwall’s future.

We use creative techniques and tools to work

collaboratively with citizens, professionals, designers and

policy makers to develop new ideas.

Because in our vision, people lead change and use their

local knowledge, networks, ingenuity and compassion to

deeply understand how to create meaningful change.

Finally we spend as much effort changing the system so

that radical becomes the normal way of working so rather

than finding a quick fix we build a permanent fixture.

1. Inspire Change by sharing good ideas and practices

Thinking Room: Nov 2011

A workshop for project managers with ‘props’ tackling a

range of challenges, identifying and understanding how to

remove inefficiencies and improve innovation.

Thinking Room

Capacity building

Thinking Room is not a lab or a space, it is an approach

that we have been sharing throughout the council. It has

practical methods and tools. @thinking_room

Our approach is simple and our work often turns

convention on its head by creating space and time to

discover real needs.

What can design do?

— Unearth where the real problem lies — Understand motives and latent needs in

order to create the right incentives for behaviour change

— Prototype, test, iterate and de-risk policy ideas

— Create space to ‘think differently’ 80% of impact is determined in the design phase

— Reduce cost of services by designing-in solutions

Thanks to… Nesta / LGA Creative Councils programme

Dott Cornwall partners: Design Council, Cornwall Council, Technology

Strategy Board, University College Falmouth

Images from Flickr

Social and Service Design teams:

Sea Communications

Think Public

Something from Us

Leap Design for Change

Cognitive Media

Two

Boex

Cornwall Design

* Views in this presentation my own based on experience in Dott Cornwall and Cornwall

Council developing Thinking Room & Shaped by Us @shapecornwall @thinking_room