Since 2019, NOVA Lab has utilized Fluxspace, an innovative educational space, for project presentations and learning. The class evolved from a focus on design-thinking to more social initiatives, leading to concerns about diminishing entrepreneurial vigor. Insights from critique panels at Fluxspace prompted reflections on curriculum adjustments to restore a design-centered focus. Revisions aim to emphasize tangible outcomes, community partnerships, and enhanced student engagement.
Category Archives: Social Entrepreneurship
NOVA Lab Notables: No. 1
A quick hit of NOVA Lab Goodness, ’cause we’re always trying to “Do Good Things.” Notables are media heavy, text lite, and just right for honoring the work we do and the people who help us.
Future Deja Vu
NOVA Lab students engaged in a 24-day project focused on futures thinking, inspired by PBS’s “A Brief History of Time.” They explored proactive community-building, envisioning achievable protopias instead of typical dystopian narratives. While reflecting on their participation, students expressed responsibility towards the future, recognizing the urgency for change amidst systemic failures. Their engagement aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the need for visionary action.
From Design Thinking to Futures Thinking (part 1)
In which we explore our class’s shift from a focus on Design Thinking to incorporating Design Thinking with Futures Thinking and its attendant skills in Scenario Planning, Foresight, Signal and Trend spotting, and Protopian thinking.
Do Good Things Newsletter: Baseball Genius–Coach Ballgame
Baseball, Genius, and the Joy of living in one’s element via James Lowe, Coach Ballgame
“Well,How Did I Get Here?*” Or … Thank You.
I am not an entrepreneur. I do not own a business. Serial startups are not my thing. I am however, entrepreneurially minded. After almost 25 years of living, breathing, and evolving my understandings of creativity–from self-expressive to problem solving to problem finding and the applied creativity of design–I’ve come to enjoy the risks of startingContinue reading ““Well,How Did I Get Here?*” Or … Thank You.”
Do Good Things Newsletter: The Fast and the Furriest
One Student…A love of animals…and an idea. Stir briskly for a purpose driven learning experience.
Fluxspace 2.0: The Return
NOVA Lab students return to Fluxspace to present their projects to panels of community members, parents, and business people.
Do Good Things Spotlight: Project Zero — From Garbage to Good Things
From Garbage to Good Things: NOVA Lab Students do it again!
Backyard Beans: “A Small, Good Thing”
The last newsletter introduced us to the good that comes from planning (and growing) towns and cities at a human scale. Towns thus planned allowed neighborhood businesses to flourish. Barber shops, mercantiles, restaurants, bars, doctors…all these small businesses, vital to the health and well-being of citizens were also vital to the life of the townContinue reading “Backyard Beans: “A Small, Good Thing””
Innovation Lab 