Wed. 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. MDT

Active hope—the theme of the workshop—involves establishing a clear view of the condition we want changed, identifying solutions for a better condition, and taking active steps in the direction of our vision. This describes what designers and those who use design approaches do. Herbert Simon said that “[t]o design is to devise courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.” Hazard and disaster professionals activating their hope of increased resilience and reduced vulnerability can improve their work by collaborating with or thinking like designers. In this session, panelists will discuss different design approaches, with a focus on human centered design, and how to incorporate design into hazard and disaster work. Panelists will share their experiences and advice from their work in the private, non-profit, government, and academic sectors on convergent issues of community resilience and social vulnerability. The audience will be invited to share their approaches to design (whether they realize its design or not) and ask questions about how to better integrate design in future research and practice.