OSEP Marmalade Stakeholder Participation

As part of this year's Marmalade conference, this multi-stakeholder two-day workshop addresses two pressing issues facing Oxfordshire: Community Transport and Food Surplus & Affordable Food.

What is Marmalade?

Marmalade is a festival of design. Building on six years of success as an informal, dynamic, free and open-access fringe event to the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, Marmalade is evolving.

The core of Marmalade will remain: user-centred content, generated by participants; a collision space where best in class social entrepreneurs from Skoll meet up-and-coming talent from the UK and across Europe. On top of this we are building on what worked so well last year: in-depth collaborations over at least a day that use design thinking to crack ‘wicked’ social problems, while building communities that live beyond the event to realise the ideas generated during the week.

Our ambition is for Marmalade to become the place where design thinking meets intractable social problems; where, building on the event’s track record, user-centred approaches catapult people’s efforts to make the world a better place; where problems that were previously stuck are unlocked through collaborative efforts.

Take part in the OSEP Design Challenges

Last year OSEP participated in the highly successful Marmalade event at the Old Fire Station. This year, we’re going one better by putting forward 2 Design Challenges based on pressing issues for Oxfordshire :

• Community Transport (click here to register);

• Food Surplus & Affordable Food (click here to register)

Both Design Challenges will be happening simultaneously at The Old Fire Station in Oxford City Centre, 10am to 5pm Thursday and Friday 14th and 15th of April.

What is Design Thinking?

"Design thinking is a method of problem solving that is fundamentally different from other ways of meeting challenges because it is human-centred. It involves an explicit attempt to engage with both typical and atypical users, so we develop and deeper understanding of how our solution will touch many types of users."

- Sarah Soule, from the Stanford School of Business provides

What is a Design Challenge?

"A practical learning journey taken by people […] to create useful, useable and meaningful ventures, services and products that combine resources efficiently and effectively, to work towards achieving desired outcomes and impacts on society."

- Lucy Kimbell from the Said Business School

How can you get involved?

One of the core underpinnings of Design Thinking is that it involves a wide variety of stakeholders, beneficiaries and service users who are affected by the issue in questions. This is to ensure that the core problem is truly understood, and that any solutions generated are as viable, feasible and desirable as possible for all concerned.
•    As an organisation:
If you work for or are a member of an organisation that is involved, either directly or indirectly, in Community Transport and/or Food Processing, Manufacturing or Distribution, and would like to play a formal part in the Design Challenge then we would love to hear from you.
•    As an individual:
Similarly, if as an individual you are affected by the issues previously mentioned, or are knowledgeable in any relevant field and want to add to this process then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

What’s on offer?

Over the course of the 2 days you will have the opportunity to gain in-depth analysis of the multi-faceted issues and opportunities facing your organisation/sector from a variety of relevant stakeholders. The primary desired outcome from this 2 day design challenge is to encourage collaboration between existing organisations operating in both the Community Transport and Food Surplus & Affordable Food spaces by aligning common interests and meeting potential partners. OSEP’s ambition is to provide support as and when available for any projects that may arise from the design challenge. All this facilitated by experts in the design thinking and service innovation fields.

For more information, contact:
 [email protected]
 www.osep.org.uk