Design Thinking – Advancing Sustainable Development Goals

Posted April 23, 2021 | By ale_bellot

Digital Education Programming Presented by the
Center for Health & Wellbeing

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The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda adopted 17 goals called SDGs that promote equitable economic growth, social development, and the sustainable management of our environment. These interconnected goals were not only created for countries but also designed to engage civil society and the private sector in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. Human-centered design thinking is a creative approach to problem solving. It is about building deep empathy, generating tons of ideas, building prototypes and putting innovative solutions out in world. The design thinking process can be used across industries and sectors to approach any number of challenges from product and service design to space or system designs.

This program helps you be an effective change maker by learning some of the key strategies of change-making through design thinking and advancing the SDGs. By watching this program, you can examine the social and environmental issues occurring across the globe and connect these issues to the local community by integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and fully embracing the motto “think globally, act locally.” You can also learn about the stages and steps of human centered design thinking and how to create project-based activities that advance the SGDs through innovative solutions in your community or classrooms.

By watching program, you can expect to:

  • understand the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and the triple bottom line;
  • learn about the human- centered design thinking stages of inspiration, ideation, and implementation;
  • comprehend how to apply the design thinking steps to a specific design challenge to advance the UNSDGs through an Innovative Solution

This program is presented by Josephine M. Balzac-Arroyo and is hosted by the Winter Park Health Foundation.

About the Program Presenter
Josephine M. Balzac-Arroyo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Entrepreneurship at Rollins College. She is a licensed attorney admitted to practice in Florida. She was the President of the Law Office of Josephine Balzac, P.A. from April 2014 to June 2018. In 2021, she was honored in Orlando Business Journal’s as one of the 2021 Women Who Mean Business. In November 2019, she was highlighted in the GW Law’s Environment and Energy Program 50th Anniversary Newsletter as a GW Alumni prominent in the environmental and energy fields. In September 2018, she was invited to attend a meeting with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on climate policy. In 2017, she was appointed to serve on the City of Orlando, Mayor’s Green Works Task Force and was recognized by U.S. Representative Darren Soto as a community leader as a part of Hispanic Heritage month. In May 2017, the FAMU College of Law presented her with the Distinguished Alumni Awards. She received her LL.M. degree in International Environmental Law at The George Washington University Law School, where she served as a Randolph C. Shaw Research Fellow and interned at the EPA. She holds a Juris Doctorate from FAMU College of Law where she graduated as Valedictorian. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Central Florida. While at Rollins College she received two teaching awards, an Outstanding Faculty Award and the Walter E. Barden Distinguished Teaching Award.

In April 2018, she represented Rollins at the TEDxOrlando. She is actively involved in the local community as a speaker and advocate on environmental, climate, and social justice issues. She has published law articles and a book chapter on climate and environmental justice. She also served her community as the former Vice President of the Board of Directors for IDEAS For Us and is now currently serving on the East Central Florida Regional Resilience Collaborative Economic Resilience technical advisory committee and the Public Interest and Law School Liaison Committees of the Environmental and Land Use Section of the Florida Bar.