studio2sustain conducted a whole-day Innovation Summit at New Bedford High School designed to foster innovation, collaboration and leadership. The event focused on the City of New Bedford’s commitment to developing offshore wind energy and becoming leaders in sustainability. Participants included students, faculty, the Mayor, industry leaders, a Vendée Globe Captain, Professional Artists and a NBHS alum currently studying engineering at Harvard College. We introduced participants to the global community of environmental stewardship with a guest presentation by Richard Wheeler, the Time Magazine “Hero of the Planet,” and to renewable energy, offshore wind, and the City of New Bedford’s heritage of energy production beginning with whale oil and continuing today with offshore wind. s2s facilitated a team-based hands-on project for students to design and construct models of public sculptures that incorporated renewable energy and celebrated a “Sustainable New Bedford.” Students worked in groups of 5-6, and had the option of working with a State Pier (waterfront) or Wing’s Court (urban) site.
studio2sustain guided students through the exercise, providing design critiques and construction ideas. Once completed, teams presented their sculptures and artistic statements to the whole group for a reflection period. studio2sustain lead an inter-disciplinary reflection discussion that included presentations on the role of creativity and collaboration in governance (Mayor Mitchell), industry (Lockheed Martin), public sculpture (John Magnan), extraordinary super-human feats (Vendée Globe Captain Rich Wilson), and college (Ansel Duff, Harvard, and Adam Scherlis, Brown) that enabled students to further understand their collaborative experience in the context of solving complex real world problems. Students learned critical thinking, problem solving and team building skills in a fun, engaging and inspiring day.
“Terrific event…the panelists had interesting things to say and really engaged the students. You have found a way to stimulate students to thing big, think collaboratively, and think long term…” – Mayor Jon Mitchell, City of New Bedford.