PASA is thrilled that Adrienne Gagnon, co-founder of longstanding AfterZone program partner DownCity Design, was named a 2013 Rhode Island Innovation Fellow!
Adrienne’s project, Innovation by Design, will help develop the next generation of RI innovators by getting young people involved in designing and building solutions for their communities. Her plan is to send out mobile design labs – repurposed from retired shipping containers – to parks, school yards, and vacant lots in Rhode Island’s core cities, and engage students in free, hands-on design programs that will improve our communities. Adrienne envisions students working together to design playgrounds, community gardens, public awareness campaigns, and other interventions to strengthen their neighborhoods, while gaining valuable academic and life skills.
The Mobile Design Labs will inform the development of an online, interactive design curriculum portal available to all RI school districts, and a Summer Design Institute will support Rhode Island teachers to bring design-based service-learning projects into their classrooms.
Learn more about Adrienne’s project below!