John Longchamps

Denise DeLuca

Biomimetic Design

MCAD | Summer 2015

United Nations Biomimetic Design Brief

Design Challenge: Leveraging Biomimetic Design Methodologies to

Support youth employment and career development.

Introduction:

United Nations experience indicates that investing in the development of

young people promises to benefit society in the present and in the future.

However, there is an epidemic youth employment crisis at hand. The United

Nations is positioning interagency alignment to support initiatives to foster

sustainable economic growth through actions aligned with the Post-2015 UN

Development Agenda. The UN agency spearheading the development of youth labor

frameworks is the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The Problem:

The following information and statistics are excerpted from ILO video

materials. As a potential consultative candidate for the UN, you would do

well to review said video materials here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LykE1Soyjwc There are 74.5 million

unemployed young persons (ILO). In advanced countries, youth unemployment and

discouragement remain persistent (ILO). The youth unemployment rate is 13.1%,

nearly three times the rate of adult unemployment (ILO). Young people with

higher levels of education are increasingly taking up jobs for which they are

overqualified (ILO). In developing countries, the challenge is not only

creating jobs, but also finding decent jobs for those young people who are

under-employed and working within the informal economy (ILO). More than 228

million young people are working poor (ILO). The economy will have to create

600 million productive jobs over the next decade (ILO). In 2012 the

International Labor Conference made a call for action that identified 5 key

policy areas: (1) economic policies for increased creation of employment, (2)

labor market policies for vulnerable youth, (3) education and training, (4)

entrepreneurship and self-employment, and (5) labor rights for youth (ILO).

The Opportunity:

The United Nations is seeking to engage a sustainable design consultant to

utilize biomimetic design methodologies to develop a context-adaptive agile

framework to support national youth employment and career development in the

United States through local modes of implementation.

Goals:

In alignment with the resolution and conclusions of the 101st Session of the

International Labor Conference, Geneva, 2012, project goals include: (1)

practical national frameworks for vulnerable groups of young people including

youth from low-income families and young women, to prepare for, enter, and

remain in the labor market, (2) assessment and recommendations for graduate

unemployment and national labor market needs, and (3) supporting national

John Longchamps

Denise DeLuca

Biomimetic Design

MCAD | Summer 2015

entrepreneurship education for vulnerable youth. Goals one through three

correlate to biomimetic design concepts in the following way, respectively:

(1) systematically protecting and promoting diversity with the labor market

ecosystem, (2) whole-system analysis of the resources available within

graduate talent pools and the resource needs of the national labor market,

and (3) incubating and growing the latent entrepreneurial potential of

vulnerable youth.

Target Audience:

The following audiences will be supported through the efforts of this special

project: (1) vulnerable groups of young people including youth from low-

income families and young women, (2) recent college graduates, (3)

systematically disenfranchised creative and high-potential entrepreneurial

youth.

What this Initiative is Intended to Do:

I. Establish a context-adaptive agile framework to support national youth employment and career development in the United States through local modes

of implementation that:

1. Respects the diversity of national situations to develop practical frameworks that span across sectors, are context-specific, and

engage a comprehensive range of stakeholders

2. Prepares groups of vulnerable young people including low-income youth and young women for entry into the labor market.

3. Enters this group of vulnerable young people into the labor market.

4. Retains this group of vulnerable young people in the labor market.

5. Assesses and provide recommendations for graduate unemployment policy integration into higher level framework architecture.

6. Assesses and provides recommendations of national labor market needs.

7. Supports entrepreneurship education for disenfranchised youth.

8. Empowers vulnerable young people to apply their creativity and ability.

Functions this Initiative Must Perform:

1. Long-term systemic sustainability through leveraging diverse, locally attuned functionality and response.

2. Incubation of youth skills. 3. Incubation of youth mental health. 4. Integration of traditionally isolated groups of youth into various

tiers of the labor market.

5. Assessment of the environmental conditions of the graduate un- and under- employment.

6. Assessment of the environmental conditions of national labor market needs.

7. Nurturing and growth of entrepreneurial skills in vulnerable youth.

John Longchamps

Denise DeLuca

Biomimetic Design

MCAD | Summer 2015

8. Growth of skill and executive function within the minds of vulnerable youth.

Guiding Values:

In alignment with the resolution and conclusions of the 101st Session of the

International Labor Conference, Geneva, 2012, the following guiding values

should be embodied in the methods, application, and outcomes of the practical

frameworks resulting from the efforts of this special consultative project.

(1) Respect for the diversity of national situations to develop practical

frameworks that span across sectors, context-specific, and engage a

comprehensive range of stakeholders, (2) ensuring the rights of all young

people are respected, (3) ensuring youth are heard and their creativity

engaged in the creation of the solution. Biomimetic design harbors the

primary methods in which to manifest these guiding values from the design of

all deliverables through to the manifestation of intended outcomes.

Existing Initiatives:

Seeds of Promise is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located in Grand

Rapids, Michigan. Seeds of Promise looks to empower urban residents to direct

their own strategies to create a self-sustaining, self-transforming

neighborhood (www.seedsofpromise.org). Seeds of Promise seeks to

increase sustainable employment of local youth by implementing support

systems, and cultivating the development of businesses with local stakeholder

ownership.

Timeframe for Completion:

Completion within one year, following the establishment of the Post-2015 UN

Sustainable Development Agenda.

Non-negotiables:

A fundamental belief that the rights, voices, creativity, and value of

all young people should be respected.

Scope-of-work adherence as defined by the resolution and conclusions of

the 101st Session of the International Labor Conference, Geneva, 2012.

Previous consultative experience.

Previous experience in policy design and framework architecture.

Flawless adherence to kick-off meetings, reviews, committee

correspondence expectations.