CHAT (Childrens Health Assessment Talk) + CHOMP (Childrens Health Opportunities Made Public)

Post date: Feb 26, 2013 12:50:20 AM

Hello! I’m a graduate student hosting a design workshop Saturday, March 2nd (2PM) for families and friends who care about the issue of children’s health and civic engagement.

The topics look at food and active lifestyles regarding children’s health and civic engagement. I am looking for

25-30 people to participate in three design activities that should be informative and engaging for everyone.

Please email Hayley at hayley.c.hughes@gmail.com to sign up or RSVP via Facebook.

There will be pie!

>> T H E S C O P E <<

This investigation seeks to engage everyday citizens on Person Street in Raleigh, North Carolina in a discussion about the social health conditions of childhood obesity. The “CHAT” workshop will begin with brief public health talks with experts. This helps everyone from parents to convenience store owners understand the issue on a community level. Borrowing from a recent social innovation summit hosted by AIGA New York, I hope to develop three mini-explorations for workshop participants. In small groups of three to five, citizens will assume pre-determined Person Street personas. They will develop future scenarios around the issue. Citizens will make a visual representation of their best ideas and share them with the community in a store front window as a “CHOMP!” social sculpture.

>> D E S I R E D O U T C O M E S <<

The main goal of the workshop is to envision new types of civic engagement in communities.Other goals of the workshop include helping people bond with their neighbors and see value of their collaborative efforts. The ideal outcome is that citizens are empowered to sustain the small group conversations after the workshop is over. The social sculpture is a critical component because it creates awareness and delight in the street scape. It informs neighbors and the local government about the sentiments and ideas residents have around an important topic. Most importantly, CHAT and CHOMP! are meant to infuse meaning and fun into the everyday lives of citizens, and encourage them to participate in civic activities because of their social value.