Community Jameel and Wamda host MIT Media Lab Dubai Workshop #MLDubai
Cities are rising at a fast pace. The MENA region has seen this with Dubai, and shortly after, Masdar City.
In the meantime, millions of refugees are being displaced within cities throughout the UK, Europe, Middle East, and beyond, with nowhere to live and no infrastructure to support basic daily needs.
How do we rebuild and redesign an ancient city like Damascus, while maintaining and honoring its history?
In order to accommodate these needs we have to develop innovative approaches to urban planning, design, architecture, mobility, agriculture, and so much more.
From August 29 to September 2, the MIT Media Lab, Community Jameel and Wamda will come together to convene 30+ designers, engineers, scientists, and artists at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai.
The goal is to bring together a vast range of skill sets, cultures, and areas of expertise to tackle big questions and prototype designs during a multiday workshop focusing on redefining cities. Building strong relationships within a community of entrepreneurs and technologists who are able to build, redesign, and prototype for a future that is undeniably urban, in the process.
Attendees will have a chance to build new prototypes while receiving advice and mentorship from MIT Media Lab faculty, such as Iyad Rahwan, associate professor of media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab; J. Philipp Schmidt, director of learning innovation at the MIT Media Lab; and Ashley Shaffer, design researcher at IDEO, who is also supporting with on the ground organisation and facilitation of the workshop.
During the first workshop co-organised by Wamda and the MIT Media Lab. (Image by Wamda)
At the end of the week, each working group will present findings and outcomes. Ideally, some of the projects will be deployed with the help of regional collaborators.
Workshop attendees will be sourced from the MIT Media Lab community and from the MENA region. We welcome a broad range of ideas and research expertise.
Candidates matching the description will be contacted on a first come first served basis, so book your slot before space runs out.
This is the second time Wamda and MIT Media Lab join hands to organize such an event. An Abu Dhabi setting, in 2014, saw hands-on instruction in four different tracks: food technology, health technology, sensors and networks, crowdmapping and mobile experience.
Stay tuned for the tracks of the 2016 edition of the workshop.
Interested in taking part in this? Apply here.
